An Earnest Vow
by LeQuin
Summary: Harry and Hermione make a mistake during the hunt that will affect the rest of their lives.
1. Chapter 1

**Warning**

This story will focus on a romantic relationship between Harry and Hermione.

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 **Disclaimer**

Harry Potter and all associated characters, locations and what not belong to J.K. Rowling and whoever she sells the rights to. I have borrowed these characters, locations and what not in order to mess around with them. In some cases I have lifted a piece of dialogue or scene directly from the books as a touchstone. I do not own anything except the plot and I am not making any money from this endeavor. This applies to the whole story.

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With a sound no louder than the snapping of a brittle twig Harry Potter and Hermione Granger appeared on the outskirts of Godric's Hollow. They took a moment to look around for any possible threats before they swept the invisibility cloak they were hiding under off of them. The couple that action revealed didn't look anything like a pair of magical teenagers. Rather, anyone would have seen a couple in their late fifties or early sixties. The man had greying brown hair and the woman had equally silver streaks in her own blond locks. They both had faces marked with several decades of joys and sorrows.

They stepped forward together without any obvious signs of communication between the two, the crunch of their feet on the freshly fallen snow breaking the silence in a way that made both of them slightly uncomfortable. Their eyes darted from side to side as they walked through the village. Most of the houses they passed shone with a soft light that slipped through gaps in the drawn curtains. When the two came to the small church that had formed the centre of the village for several centuries one pair of feet slowed and stopped.

"Oh, James, can you hear that?" Hermione breathed out. "They're singing. It must be Christmas." Harry had stopped a few paces farther on and turned back.

"Would you like to go inside, Jane?" he asked with an understanding smile on his face.

"We really shouldn't." she responded without much conviction. "We were just going to make this a quick visit." Harry walked back to stand next to her and wrapped his arms around her.

"It'll be fine. We can visit their graves after we're done inside. I think we may need to spend some time with other people anyway and we each have two more sips of polyjuice." Hermione nodded, not really wanting to put up a fight about this, and allowed Harry to lead her to the doors of the church. As they stepped inside they were met by a woman who looked to be about in her thirties.

"Welcome, welcome. Goodness, come in. This is no weather to be standing around outside in." The couple stepped inside and shook the snow off of their coats. "That's better, isn't it? Could I just have your names, please?"

"Our names?" Harry asked feeling a little suspicious.

"Of course. You did register for the ceremony didn't you?"

"Ah, well, no. We just heard…" Harry trailed off uncomfortably. Hermione thought he was probably trying to find the words to tell the woman what had happened without giving anything away about what they were really doing.

"Oh, I think I understand. Well, we can just register you now then. It's nearly Christmas after all and leaving a couple out in the snow would be doubly wrong when we remember Mary, Mother of God." The woman crossed herself as she spoke. "Might I just have your names so I can 'check' that you are on the register?"

"James and Jane Claybaker." Hermione responded quickly.

"Of course, of course, here you are." the woman replied with a wink before writing something on the list in her hand. Harry took the moment to shoot Hermione a questioning look which she parried with a slight shake of her head. By the time the greeting lady looked back up there was no sign of any kind of confusion between the two. "Might I just have your maiden name as well, Mrs. Claybaker?"

"Ackerman. Jane Ackerman."

"Wonderful. Now then, given that you weren't informed of the requirements I'll make sure that the vicar provides everything you need. It will cost you an extra fifty pounds I'm afraid, but we can settle that up afterwards. We're about to begin anyway. Just head on in."

"Thank you very much." Hermione told the woman with a smile as she subtly pulled on Harry's hand to get him walking again. As the two entered the nave of the church they saw several couples who looked to be the same age as their disguises scattered throughout the pews. The two magicals chose to sit close to the aisle in one of the empty pews, their sense of caution demanding no less. In front of the altar the vicar began to speak.

"Welcome. Welcome all of you who wish to reaffirm your love for one another so close to the day when we remember the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. It does my heart good to know that when the weather turns coldest, your love still burns as warm as ever. We will now have the first couple come up and renew their vows. Stephen and Elizabeth Wilkeshire? Please step forward." As the couple that the vicar had called stood up and shuffled their way out of the pews Harry leant in to Hermione and hissed out:

"We're renewing our wedding vows?! Hermione, this is mad."

"Thank you for that sentiment. Leaving now would cause a lot more suspicion than staying and muddling through though." she snapped back in an angry whisper,

"Damn it, this isn't about accepting or rejecting you. We're not wearing wedding rings. We don't have a marriage licence. Hell, we don't even have an address. We have none of the things married couples are supposed to have."

"Fine, sorry for assuming, but the woman did say that the vicar would have everything we needed."

"We don't have the fifty pounds that's going to cost either."

"Well, when did you learn so much about weddings anyway?" Hermione demanded, becoming flustered by the way Harry was shooting down all her points.

"My aunt used to gossip for weeks on end about this sort of thing anytime she heard someone was getting married."

"Alright, but I still say we would attract more attention by running out now. I'll come up with something to solve our problems by the time it's our turn to go up there." Harry just gave her an unhappy look at that.

"Something tells me we're going to feel bad about any solution you come up with." he muttered half to himself. Hermione wasn't too sure that she disagreed with him and kept quiet. They sat quietly for the rest of the ceremonies, each lost in their own thoughts. Eventually all the other couples had gone up and the vicar called for 'James and Jane Claybaker'. Harry once again leant over to Hermione as the got up to make their way up to the altar. "Got anything more ethical than obliviating them, confunding them or using transfiguration to counterfeit some money?"

"No." she admitted in a low voice.

"Yeah, me neither." Harry took her hand as they walked up to the priest. The action surprised Hermione at first, but it took less than a second for surprise to turn to understanding: a married couple about to renew their vows would probably show each other more affection than 'mere' best friends. When they reached the altar the turned to face each other like all their predecessors had.

"Ah, our Christmas addition. I understand that you weren't aware of what needed to be brought and have chosen to accept our offer of a new pair of rings to go with your vows." Harry and Hermione both nodded as they tried desperately to think of any way in which they could actually get fifty pounds to these people. The vicar had turned away for a moment to a tray with several golden bands on it but was now studying their hands. "These two should work." he said cheerfully. "I think you would both prefer to just have the standard words, yes?" Harry and Hermione shared a quick look which clearly communicated that they both thought that they were better off not improvising something that might give them away.

"Please, Vicar." Hermione answered for both of them.

"Excellent. Then let us begin. Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today-..." Harry and Hermione turned to face each other and took each other's hands as the vicar spoke words that he must have recited hundreds of times over the years. "I would now like to read a verse from the good book :

 _Two are better than one,_

 _because they have a good return for their labor:_

 _If either of them falls down,_

 _one can help the other up._

 _But pity anyone who falls_

 _and has no one to help them up._

 _Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm._

 _But how can one keep warm alone?_

 _Though one may be overpowered,_

 _two can defend themselves._

 _A cord of three strands is not quickly broken._ "

Hermione could feel the words resonating in her very soul. For a moment it almost seemed like the vicar had understood their mission and was encouraging them. The last line gave her a moment of pause though. They had been a cord of three strands until a few months ago when one of the strands had broken. _But the cord is still here. Harry and I are still fighting._ Hermione was so lost in her contemplation of the words that had been read out to her that she almost missed the priest reading out the vows. It was Harry's voice that brought her back to what was happening around her as he spoke the words that grooms had said to their brides for over 450 years.

"I, James Claybaker, take thee, Jane Ackerman, to be my wedded Wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part, according to God's holy ordinance; and thereto I plight thee my troth."

"Miss Ackerman, please repeat after me." Hermione nodded to the priest to show that she was ready and looked into Harry's eyes. They might have been grey from the polyjuice, but Hermione had no problems imagining the vibrant green hue they would normally have. As she spoke the words the priest led her in she remembered the verse he had read to them a little bit earlier and she found herself meaning a large part of the vow.

"I, Jane Ackerman, take thee, James Claybaker," _Harry Potter_ "to be my wedded Husband," _My lifelong best friend_ "to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love, cherish, and to obey," _Unless you're busy listening to me_ "till death us do part," _I'm not going to let death take you. Voldemort can have you over my dead body_ "according to God's holy ordinance; and thereto I give thee my troth." A warm feeling rushed through her as she realised that even if it was a wedding ceremony to everyone else, to her and Harry the promise went far beyond some kind of silly romantic gesture. Something deep inside of her told her that Harry had meant his vow to her just as much as she had her vow to him. They were going to see this thing through to the end, no matter what, and they were going to do it together. These thoughts put a bright smile on Hermione's face as Harry gently placed a ring on her left hand with the words:

"With this Ring I thee wed, with my body I thee worship, and with all my worldly goods I thee endow: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen." For a moment Hermione felt captured by the tenderness she saw in his eyes. Then she was slipping a ring onto Harry's finger and reciting her own vow. The priest beamed at them happily.

"You may now kiss the bride." Harry and Hermione shared a look that allowed them to decide within a split second that they had come too far now to blow their cover over something as minor as a kiss. What Hermione hadn't expected was the way her pulse started racing as Harry leant forward. She slipped her arms around Harry's neck and felt his own coming around her waist. She felt his breath on her lips for a split second before the kiss touched and it sent sparks shooting down her spine. The kiss itself was gentle and chaste, but somehow Hermione could divine a wealth of feeling from that slight contact. It was as if Harry had found a way to communicate how much he cared about her, how much she meant to him and his determination to keep her safe and happy. Hermione had no idea how he had done it, but when they separated she could feel her cheeks warming with a slight blush. Harry just smiled at her and even on that stranger's face it was without a doubt Harry's smile.

The applause from the others in the church came as a surprise to both of them as the warmth of the kiss began to ebb. They shared a silent look and with a pair of waves made their way back to the pew they had been sitting in before their aliases had been called. As she sat down Hermione allowed herself to actually think about what had just happened. She had kissed her best friend even though she was technically, maybe, sort of still dating their other best friend. _Hell, I just married Harry even if we didn't actually use our names or even our own bodies to do it. I doubt Harry would really see it that way, but he at least broke up with Ginny before we left._ Hermione let the doubts she was feeling course through her as thoughts chased one another up and down her consciousness.

In the end it came down to two main points. First of all Hermione was sure that Ron would have a problem with what had just happened. Secondly she was just as sure that she wouldn't have ended up in that position if he had stayed, either because he would have refused to enter a muggle church or because Harry would have insisted that he was simply there as their best friend and pushed her into the ceremony with Ron. _Bah! I just had a wonderful experience and now I'm analysing it to death. All that really happened is that Harry and I promised that we would be there for each other like we have been. The form of the promise doesn't really matter._

Harry squeezing her hand warned her that it was time to pay attention to her surroundings again and also told Hermione that she had apparently been holding onto it for the entirety of the ceremony. Looking up she saw that there was a line of couples heading back out into the night. The priest and the woman who had asked their names when they walked in were standing by the doors wishing them all luck with their marriages and a happy Christmas.

"Have you decided which disappointing option we're going to use?" Harry whispered.

"Obliviation would be safest. I just-..." Hermione couldn't quite put into words how much she hated that they were going to engage in the kind of behaviour that disgusted her about the wizarding world.

"We'll come back here after the war and donate at least a hundred pounds." Harry promised. "It's not going to make up for what we're about to do, but you're right: we can't take the risk." Hermione sometimes hated being right.

"I'll take care of the woman, you do the vicar." she said with a heavy heart.

"Don't forget the register. If they see the names the spells'll get noticed." Harry replied in a tone that let Hermione know he felt exactly the same way. They got up together and headed towards the door where the last couple was just heading out. The woman and the vicar smiled broadly when they saw the two approaching.

"Oh that was just the most marvelous wedding I've seen since we started doing this. When you spoke your vows it was like I could feel love filling the entire church." the woman gushed as soon as they got close enough.

"Indeed." the vicar agreed. "I don't think I've ever met a couple more suited for each other. People like you are the very reason we started this tradition of hosting weddings and vow renewals for those less fortunate. I have your wedding certificate filled out here. You'll have to add in the relevant details yourselves as you were a walk-in." He handed Harry the certificate with a broad smile. "I'm afraid the church isn't wealthy enough to give you the rings out of hand, but I hope that one day our work will be recognised and we can progress to that point."

"I'm sure it will." Harry said. "I want to thank you for your words today. They-... they meant a lot."

"Not at all. That's my job after all." the vicar waved him off with a smile. "I'm afraid that I do have to ask you to settle up, or at least agree to a payment plan. I can understand that fifty pounds can be a lot of money."

"Yeah, no problem." Harry agreed, reaching into his pocket. Hermione knew what was coming next and pulled her own wand out of her pocket.

" _Obliviate._ " the two magicals spoke as one, removing any memories their targets might have of James and Jane Claybaker. Hermione also cast a spell that she had learnt that removed writing so that she could make corrections to her essays when necessary. Before the two people who had shown an old couple such kindness could recover Harry and Hermione were out of the door. They ducked to the side as soon as they were outside and headed for the graveyard.

"We should take another sip of polyjuice." Hermione said as they passed through the kissing gate, still sick with what they had done. Harry just nodded and reached into his other pocket for the phial of potion that would extend his transformation. He took a swallow and grimaced at the taste.

"Let's go find my parents' graves." he suggested before a smile that was almost up to its usual mischievous self graced his borrowed face. "I should probably tell them that I just got married."

"You are absolutely incorrigible." Hermione muttered fondly. _Trust Harry to find a way to make me smile again._ She followed him deeper into the graveyard, sure that no matter what they would stick to the promise they had made tonight and see this thing through to the end together.

:-:-:-:-:

 **Four and a half years later**

Harry stood at an altar looking out over the gathered crowd and trying to ignore the stares that were coming his way. Those stares had been pretty constant since he and his friends had managed to end the war four years ago. It probably didn't help that Ron was standing next to him, nervously tugging at the collar and cuffs of his dress robes. Two of the Young Heroes, as they were now known, were always going to draw attention. Harry heard Ron shuffle his feet and looked to the side to see his mate looking about ready to throw up.

"Breathe, Ron. You've been waiting for this day, remember?"

"Yeah, but I reckon that was because I didn't know it'd be like this." Ron muttered back.

"Try not to think about the ceremony. Think about what'll happen once you're actually married." For some reason Ron went even paler. "Merlin's beard, mate, what are you imagining Hermione will do to you?" Ron just shook his head and Harry sighed.

After the war had ended he and Ron had been enrolled in a fast track class through the Auror Academy. There had been so few trained aurors left that Minister Shacklebolt had pretty much begged them. Harry had agreed under the condition that the Academy help him study for his N.E.W.T.s. Shack had breathed a sigh of relief and asked Ron if he wanted the same only to met with incredulous denials. Harry remembered the first month of their time at the Academy as being filled with Ron trying to talk some sense into him. Harry hadn't really believed that his luck would hold out though and had insisted on carrying on with his plan. That plan had also meant that that first year at the academy had been hellish.

Despite the fact that the entire class was covering things that Harry would need to know for his exams, he received twice as much homework as everyone else. Between Shack's orders and his instructors' desire to make sure that 'the Saviour' somehow gained a slew of O's, Harry had been more or less confined to quarters by the amount of work he was doing.

At the end of that year his hard work had paid off though and he had been given a week of leave to take his N.E.W.T.s at Hogwarts. He had joined Hermione, Neville, Ginny and Luna who were also taking them at the time. It felt oddly like Ron should have been there as well, but by that time it had been far too late to do anything about it. Harry's results came in for his five exams and he passed them effortlessly with Outstandings in his wanded subjects and Exceeds Expectations in Potions and Herbology. Hermione had, of course, gotten six Outstandings.

The next two years at the Academy had seemed like a cakewalk to Harry even though his classmates began to feel more and more of the pressure that was being piled onto them. Only three out of the twenty-one candidates didn't make it into the Aurors and were reassigned to the Hit-Wizards squads. Harry and Ron both passed and were given mentors to take them through their first year.

Once they had graduated the Academy, Ron had decided that it was the perfect time to propose marriage to Hermione. She had been promoter within the Department of Interspecies Relations, which was the renamed Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, around the same time and Ron had felt that this new phase in their professional lives would pair well with a new phase in their personal lives. Hermione had enthusiastically said yes and now, a year later, the big day had finally arrived. Harry had happily agreed to be Ron's best man and now they were waiting for the bride to make her appearance.

As he looked over the crowd Harry couldn't help but pick out familiar faces. Luna was sitting next to an empty seat that he knew she was reserving for Neville just across from the Weasleys. Harry had been beyond grateful that the two had proven themselves to be true friends and had insisted on sitting on the bride's side as her family. Harry had been shocked when he had suggested that they go to Australia and undo the Memory Charms on her parents only to be told by Hermione that there was no way to do that and leave the mind undamaged. She wasn't going to torture her parents with legilimency so that they could remember her for a split second before turning into empty, broken husks. It had been the start of an emotional conversation that had ended with both of them falling asleep on the couch they had been sharing in utter exhaustion.

To Harry the most impressive feat of the war had instantly become the fact that Hermione had been able to make the choice to send her parents away despite knowing that they would never see each other again. He had privately wondered if that was the reason Hermione had chosen to send them to the other side of the world, so that she would not have to see the lack of recognition in their eyes, but he had never been able to bring himself to actually ask her the question.

Hermione had been incredibly touched by Neville and Luna's offer and had asked Neville to escort her up the aisle. Neville had accepted and after being effusively thanked by Hermione had been pulled aside for a quieter but no less heartfelt word of thanks from Harry who felt keenly responsible for his best friend's loss.

A swell of music drew Harry's attention back to the wedding. He shook off his distraction as best he could and focused on the end of the aisle. The first person to appear was Ginny. Hermione had asked her soon-to-be sister-in-law to be the maid of honour at the wedding. Harry wasn't sure how he felt about seeing his girlfriend or ex-girlfriend; he had lost track of whether they were together at the moment or not.

Ever since the war Harry and Ginny had had an on again off again relationship. Every time they got together it was only a matter of time until they would clash again. Ginny blamed Harry's absorption in his work as an auror and had frequently asked him to find another job, preferably one that wouldn't take up as much of his time. Harry had always refused. He felt that there was still a lot more that he could do for a country that was barely recovering and, while he did still love flying, Ginny's repeated suggestion that he join a professional Quidditch team didn't really appeal to him at all. The mere thought of having to be in the spotlight all the time and the mass of crowds that descended on any Quidditch game gave him cold sweats.

It was difficult for Harry to explain these feelings to Ginny. He had tried several times, but Ginny would just tell him that he was being ridiculous. As a result he had started avoiding her whenever they argued. This had resulted in their first of many break-ups. Ginny had been furious that he had been hiding from her. She had informed Harry that she didn't want to see him until he had sorted himself out. A week later Ginny had shown up at Grimmauld Place to apologise for her hasty words. She had explained that she had just been so upset at the way Harry had been distancing himself from her that she overreacted to the sense of him leaving.

Harry had also apologised for the apparent miscommunication and the two had gone on a wonderful date to make up. After that it seemed like they had broken up and gotten back together at least once a month. Each time it happened the tabloids and society pages would be full of speculation on what had happened and if the current situation would last. Harry was starting to wonder if breaking up permanently wouldn't be a better idea. This constant bickering was starting to exhaust him. He hadn't found the courage to bring that discussion up with Ginny yet, anticipating that it would lead to a row on a whole new scale.

Ginny meanwhile had taken up her position across from Harry and Ron and judging by her smile Harry thought that they were probably together at this point. His eyes drifted back to the far end of the aisle where Hermione was just entering on Neville's arm. She was wearing a pure white dress with enough skirts that her upper body seemed to be floating along on a demi-globe of lace. Her hair had been straightened out with what Harry guessed was Sleekeazy's and he could see that her face had a considerable amount of makeup on it. For a moment Harry didn't know what to make of this version of his best friend any more than he had known what to make of Ginny's appearance.

"She's gorgeous." Ron choked out in a whisper next to him. Harry decided that he might ask Ginny about what he was missing later tonight. Her explanation might help him understand what he was doing wrong in their relationship in addition to clearing up his confusion so he thought it would be worth the risk.

In front of the dais where Ron, Harry and Ginny were standing, Neville and Hermione paused. Neville smiled at her and pressed a kiss to her cheek before stepping back and taking his place next to Luna. Hermione ascended the steps to join Ron in front of the lectern, beaming like a patronus. Ron reached out, looking like he was still in a daze, and took her hand. Together they turned to face the lectern, ready to begin the ceremony.

A wispy haired wizard stepped up behind the lectern and Harry thought that it might be the same one who had married Bill and Fleur on the night the trio's mission had started in earnest. The old man smiled at the couple in front of him and raised his hands.

"Know now before you go further, that since your lives have crossed in this life you have formed ties between each other. As you seek to enter this state of matrimony you should strive to make real the ideals which give meaning to both this ceremony and the institution of marriage. With full awareness, know that as you stand here you are not only declaring your intent to be wed before your friends and family, but you speak that intent also to your magic.

The promises made today and the ties that are bound here greatly strengthen your union; they will cross the years and lives of each soul's growth. Do you still enter freely into this marriage?" he intoned, his voice seeming impossibly deep for his slight frame. Ron and Hermione both bowed to him and spoke together.

"We do." As soon as the words left their lips a loud boom sounded and a pulse of magic flung everyone away from the lectern they were facing. Harry felt himself bounce and skid along the ground. When he finally stopped he pushed himself up, wand already in hand, looking around for whomever was attacking them. He couldn't seem to find the attacker, but around them the wedding guests had flown into a panic. Harry could see his two friends on the ground next to him and crouched down.

"Apparate into the house. I'll gather some aurors and investigate." he shouted to make himself heard over the din. Ron nodded and disappeared with a loud crack. Hermione was struggling to get to her feet and Harry had a sinking feeling that he knew what she was trying to do. "At least get changed if you're going to be stubborn." he shouted at her. Hermione shot him a brief glare, but apparated out as well. Harry was sure that she would be back sooner or later unless Ron managed to talk some sense into her.

Around him Harry could hear the cracks of witches and wizards apparating out in a panic. He could also see that several members of the Weasley family were trying to push their way to through the crowd towards him. Harry decided he would head up to the podium and start his investigation there; the others would meet him there if they kept their paths. Squaring his shoulders he started shoving people to the side as he made his way to the place he had been standing only a moment earlier. All his senses were stretched to their limits as he tried to determine where the attack might have come from. At the lectern Harry started casting detection charms to check for any static magic that might have been placed as a trap. Surprisingly, the first person to reach him there wasn't one of the elder Weasley brothers but the wispy haired wizard who was supposed to be doing the bonding.

"Where are they?!" The man was almost frothing at the mouth in anger. "Where are they?!"

"Sir, if you'll get inside, I'll keep looking for the attacker." Harry said in his best crowd control voice.

"Attacker?! There was no attacker! It was a faithless adulterer who sabotaged this wedding!" Harry froze at the man's angry outburst.

"What do you mean?" he asked, firmly wrestling down his urge to yell at the man simply because he didn't understand what was being said.

"Were you not paying attention, boy? I asked them if they were ready to declare their intent to wed before the rest of us and their magic _and their magic took offence_. That can only mean that one or both of them already married another."

"Already-... Come with me. We're going to find Ron and Hermione and get to the bottom of this." Harry didn't believe for a second that one of his friends was already married to someone else, but if the man was this convinced then it might be for the best to explore the possibility that the ceremony itself had somehow caused this effect. Harry led the bonder towards the Burrow through the thoroughly thinned crowd. By that time Bill, Charlie and George had reached them as well.

"Harry, what's going on?" Bill asked as soon as he could do so without yelling.

"Not sure. This bloke seems to think something went wrong with the ceremony. Did you check the wards?" Harry asked without slowing his pace.

"Yeah. No sign of any kind of offensive magic being fired in from the outside and no sign of anyone sneaking through. If this was an attack then the culprit was damn good."

"I told you this wasn't an attack." the bonder snapped irritably. "This was the result of a faithless adulterer." The three Weasley brothers blinked in surprise and looked to Harry for an explanation.

"He thinks that Ron or Hermione or both are already married to someone else and that caused the... mishap." Harry explained succinctly as he opened the door.

"That seems... unlikely." Charlie said uncertainly.

"Which is why we're going to talk to them and see if we can get to the bottom of this." Harry said before the bonder could start up again. "Something going wrong with the ceremony certainly seems to be our best guess for what happened just now." The five men walked into the living room to find Hermione and the rest of the Weasleys already there.

"Harry! Did you find something?" Molly exclaimed as soon as she saw him.

"Probably not, but the bonder would like to talk to the happy couple." Harry replied, unable to keep a slightly mocking note out of his voice.

"Be sceptical all you like, boy. This is my area of expertise and your faith in your friends has been betrayed."

"What?!" The surprised cry emminated from several throats at once.

"I think you'd better start from the beginning and make sure to include a lot of details." Harry told the bonder drily. "The bride will just quizz you up one side and down the other anyway if you don't." Hermione shot Harry a _look_ and he couldn't help but grin in return. "What? You'll probably do that regardless."

"That's no reason to make me sound like I have no self-control." Hermione sniffed. "Why don't we just listen to what this gentleman has to say and then we'll see if I need to clarify anything."

"Yes, well, if you're done making out like this isn't a serious matter." the bonder snapped. "What happened is perfectly simple: one or both of you lied when I asked you if you would enter freely into this marriage. If one of you was unable to enter of their own free will because they were being controlled by outside influences that person would have simply collapsed. To cause this reaction the lying party must already be married to another." It was quiet for a long moment as if everyone was waiting for the little man to continue.

"That's it? That's the only possible explanation?" Hermione asked in confusion.

"Yes."

"But that's ridiculous. If we were already married we wouldn't be marrying each other." Hermione protested. "There must be another possible explanation."

"There isn't." Harry saw Hermione shooting him a confused look and rolled his eyes in the bonder's direction in a clear indication of his personal opinion on the matter.

"Well, we should be able to clear this up easily enough. If either of these two are married then there should be a record of it with the Ministry. I can just nip over to archives and ask if there is a record of any such marriage." Mr. Weasley offered.

"The Ministry wouldn't have given them a marriage license if there was already one on record, Arthur." Molly pointed out.

"Oh. Right."

"There is a way to test which of the partners is the faithless one." the bonder offered. "I will warn you that it is appropriately painful since this is a sin to be punished. This is your last chance to admit to your wrongful ways." Everyone shared a look at that ominous proclamation.

"Well, I'm sure I never married no one." Ron exclaimed.

"Despite the disappointing grammar I agree with the sentiment." Hermione declared shooting her fiance an exasperated look.

"Then so be it." The bonder drew his wand and pointed it at Ron and Hermione. " _Stuprum Revelio_." A white flash pulsed through the room and for a split second nothing happened. Then Harry began to feel a burning against his chest. It soon became unbearable and he found himself clawing at the neck of his robes as he hissed and grunted to vent the pain it was causing him. Finally his fingers managed to snag the leather thong around his neck and pull it clear of his skin. Once it was outside his robes he was faced with the wedding band he wore around his neck as a memento of a difficult time and the support of his best friend through it. The ring was glowing and he could see the heat rising off of it.

"Oi! Don't go heating up people's possessions at random if you can't prove your theory." he snapped at the bonder. "I'm not the one getting married, remember?"

"No, it seems you already did that. And you had the gall to pretend you didn't know what I was talking about." the bonder snapped back sounding just as angry as Harry had. Harry was about to lay into the old man when a soft voice from behind him stopped me.

"Harry." He turned around to find Hermione looking at him with wide eyes. In her right hand she held what looked like the remains of a bracelet that must have been hidden under the sleeve of her dress. "Mine heated up too. No one else seems to have had any problems so there must be a reason why these two rings reacted to his spell."

"Yeah, but we both know we never got married." Harry protested.

"No, but we did attend a wedding ceremony." Harry stopped as he reflected on what Hermione had just suggested.

"You think that that's somehow interfering with this actual ceremony?" he asked. He wanted to mock the very idea, but since said idea was coming from Hermione there had to be at least some merit to hearing it out.

"It's the only thing that I can think of."

"But we didn't use our own names or bodies or anything. We didn't even realise that there was any kind of wedding to participate in until we were already inside."

"Could you two stop talking about it like that?!" Ginny screamed. "Did you two get married? Tell us the whole story. _Now!_ "

"Well, neither of us considered ourselves married, but the event we're debating took place during the war." Hermione explained. "It was when we went to Godric's Hollow after Ron left us."

"Ah, come on, Herms. Did you have to bring that up?" Ron asked, looking uncomfortable.

"It does have bearing on the story, yes." Hermione replied primly. "While we were walking down the streets of the town we passed by a church and heard singing inside. We thought it might be Christmas and it had been so _long_ since we'd seen other people that we couldn't resist and went inside. Once we got in there we were asked our names and gave them our cover names. We were under polyjuice as a married couple at the time so we gave the names James and Jane Claybaker. As it turned out, it wasn't exactly Christmas, but close to it and that church offered a chance for couples to renew their wedding vows. We found out later that it was a charity they performed so that anyone who hadn't gotten married in a church because they lacked the funds could do so later in life." Hermione took a breath and swallowed so Harry picked up the narration to give her a break.

"Once we'd realised what was going on running out of there would have massively blown our cover. Rather than leave a large number of people who knew our cover names gossipping about the fact that we'd been in Godric's Hollow we decided to muddle through the ceremony instead. I think I can speak for both of us when I say we didn't for a moment believe we were actually getting married. It was like being married in a play. The actors don't actually become husband and wife."

"But now that the rings we were given during that ceremony have lit up in response to Mr. Verrell we're starting to wonder if it could have had some other effect on the ceremony today since it's the only thing to do with a marriage other than today and Bill and Fleur's wedding that either Harry or I have participated in." Hermione concluded. Harry realised with a start that he had never bothered to learn the name of the wizard who was supposed to be conducting his friends' wedding ceremony. _Trust Hermione to know that, though_ he thought fondly.

"Soooo... you're married, but you thought you weren't?" George asked in confusion.

"Wouldn't we have to have made a decision to actually get married in there somewhere if we were?" Harry asked in response. A few minutes ago he would have been sure of the answer to that question, but now doubts were creeping in that refused to bugger off when told to do so.

"If you spoke the vows and meant them, then your magic may have enforced them. At least to a degree where you are considered married." Verrell sniffed.

"Harry, Hermione, did you mean the vows you exchanged during this ceremony?" Mr. Weasley asked in a tense voice. The two friends shared a look that communicated a something that had never been spoken out loud.

"Well, I meant parts of it, sure." Harry admitted awkwardly. "There was a lot in there about sticking together no matter what and we were in the middle of a war. I know I didn't take the bits about being husband and wife seriously and we certainly never completed the bit about, um, worshipping each other with our bodies." At the end of his explanation Harry's face had begun to take on a red tint. He was fairly sure you weren't supposed to have to explain to the groom's family that you hadn't slept with the bride at a wedding.

"That's actually a good point, Harry." Hermione said though her own cheeks looked a little rosy as well. "We certainly never... consummated any kind of marriage. That should mean that it falls through after a while or can simply be annulled, right?" It felt almost like a tennis match at Wimbledon as everyone's head turned back to Verrell in unison.

"Are you sure that there was never any physical intimacy between the two of you to seal the bond?"

"I'm still a virgin, thank you very much." Hermione snapped out, the rosy blush on her cheeks darkening and growing while her eyes almost seemed to be shooting sparks. "What?!" she snarled out at the surprised looks on the faces around her. "Is there some kind of problem with me wanting to have one thing pan out like I had dreamed it?"

"No, no of course not, Hermione." Bill rushed to reassure her. "It's just that-... you know what, it doesn't matter. We were wrong to assume what we did and we're sorry." Hermione gave him a short nod and turned her glare on the others as if she was challenging them to speak up. Outside of her field of vision Harry saw Bill shoot Ron a disappointed look and understood what it was about. He remembered a few stories from his redheaded friend about what had happened with Hermione in his bedroom; stories that would appear to have been utter fabrications. Harry resisted the urge to shake his head and sigh. It wouldn't do any good to ask Ron about that now and Harry was sure that the reason would probably come out to be something along the line of not wanting to look bad in front of his mates.

"It would not need to be something as drastic as intercourse." the bonder spoke up. Hermione's glare turned slightly awkward as it was clear she was keeping it up mostly to mask her embarrassment.

"Well, what else would count as 'with this body, I thee worship'?" That same embarrassment seemed to be making her curt.

"I believe that a kiss would suffice." There was a moment of silence in the room and Harry had to forcefully blink back the memory of the kiss he had shared at the end of the ceremony. In the short time it took him to refocus his attention on the present moment the expressions on the Weasley's faces had all shifted to one of shock. Looking at Hermione, Harry could easily tell that she had just remembered the same event and he didn't think that any of the Weasley's had missed it either. The fist crashing into the side of his face certainly seemed to suggest that at least.

"I turn my back for one moment and you're snogging my girl?! Get up, Potter. I'm going to kick seven shades of shit out of you."

"Ron!" Hermione stepped in between the two boys in a rustle of white skirts. "You know full well that Harry wouldn't do something like that. The only time our lips ever touched was at the end of that wedding ceremony and that was only because we couldn't get out from under the whole 'you may kiss the bride' thing anymore at that point. It was most definitely something we did solely as part of our covers."

"You had a wedding you say you didn't mean and a kiss that you say was just for show, but you know what? Your magic says you're lying!"

"Ronald Weasley, this is complicated enough without you trying to turn it into something more fit for Witch Weekly." Ron and Hermione's noses were almost touching as the worked their way up to yet another row.

"No, Hermione. No it isn't. This is really simple: my two so-called best friends fucked me over and got married behind my back."

"We did not! And stop trying to act like this happened while you were out buying groceries. This was two _months_ after you abandoned us to fight a war by ourselves and another two months before you stumbled your way back into our camp."

"So your loyalty stretched all of two months?!"

"You're going to bring up loyalty after ran away from us?"

"That's enough! Both of you calm down." Harry called out. "Look, none of us know for a fact what's happened yet. Ron, I understand that this is difficult for you, but Hermione and I are trying to get to a point where the two of you can go back out there and get married. That's not happening if you blow up at us for every little thing."

"Snogging my girl is not a 'little thing', Potter."

"I didn't _snog_ Hermione. There was a kiss at the end of a ceremony which neither of us thought of as an actual wedding since we were doing it to keep our cover during a war. Now stop nursing your injured pride for a second and let's find out from Mr. Verrell if this even qualifies for the part of the vow we were discussing."

"It depends on the feelings involved, Mr. Potter." Verrell replied quickly. It was a good deal politer than he had been so far and Harry hoped that meant that at least one hot head was cooling down. "Do you remember what you were thinking and feeling at the time?"

"I think it was something like: I'm really lucky to have a friend like Hermione and I should make sure that she makes it through this war. I thought that a lot around that time and after what I'd thought was a promise to see it through together I think that would have been at the forefront of my mind."

"So protectiveness and caring?"

"Yes, that would be a good summary."

"That would have worked, I'm afraid. It sounds like you added a physical confirmation of what you promised in your pledge."

"Seriously? Even if we didn't mean the part about husbands and wives?"

"If you used the standard Muggle vows then you will have promised 'to have and to hold' as well as 'to love and to cherish' and from what you just said, the feelings you put into that kiss matched. What would you call that if not marriage?"

"My friendship with Hermione." Harry answered without hesitation. "It's always been like those bits. We care for each other, we're protective of each other and no one's ever called that a marriage before."

"Actually, Harry, everyone from Dumbledore to the first years thought the two of you were dating, remember?" Ginny said sounding like she was only seconds from heaving up.

"But-... but that's not _marriage_." he protested.

"For fifteen or sixteen-year-olds at a boarding school it's pretty close." Charlie disagreed. "The bit I don't get is why Ron and Hermione started dating and agreed to get married at all if there was this connection between Harry and Hermione." He looked at the members of the Golden Trio, clearly inviting an explanation. The three friends shared a helpless look. None of them had ever been asked a question like this so forthrightly before.

"W-well, who else would I be dating?" Ron blustered. "Herms is-... she's Herms in'she?"

"Eloquent as ever, little brother." George smirked with a trace of the humour that had been lost for so long after Fred had died.

"Well, what're you asking me for?"

"You're the one getting married today?" Bill offered with a grin on his face that made Harry develop suspicions about where Fred and George had picked up their mischievous streak. Ron just huffed and crossed his arms. "Alright, we'll ask someone not getting married today and see how that helps us. Harry?"

"Are you asking me why Ron's marrying Hermione?" Harry retorted with a raised eyebrow.

"No." Bill snickered as Ron turned redder. "How about you just tell us why you never asked Hermione out."

"Well, she was dating Ron for starters."

"Before that."

"I suppose you mean before she started mooning after him in our sixth year as well?" Harry asked with a slight grin at his female best friend. "I probably should have asked her out to the Yule Ball before Krum got the chance; I would have enjoyed the night a lot more. As it is I didn't think of it because Hermione is my best friend and asking her to be something more would have scared the daylights out of me. The year after that I pretty much had my head stuck up my own arse coming to terms with Riddle being back from the dead. By then Ron had already figured out that our best friend is a beautiful woman aside from also being brave, intelligent, _loyal_ and caring." Harry hadn't been able to resist sticking that little barb in at the end. He usually tried to keep out of Ron and Hermione's arguments, but he couldn't help but agree with Hermione that it wasn't right for Ron to call her out on her loyalty when he was the one who had run off and Hermione hadn't meant for something like this to interfere with today.

"That certainly would explain why those wedding vows took for Harry." Fred grinned. "Were you taking notes, Ronnikins? That's why you marry a girl."

"I don't think your brother needs you winding him up right now, George." Molly scolded.

"I agree. This whole time we still haven't heard from Hermione." Ginny agreed. Harry thought she sounded slightly bitter. "What did you feel when you married Harry and why did you choose my brother?" Harry turned to look at his best friend with the rest of the people present and was surprised to see her looking flustered.

"I-... I remember thinking that it was almost like I could hear Harry's feelings through the kiss. It was like he was reassuring me and trying to give me the strength to face what was coming. I also agree with him that we didn't see that kiss coming until the vicar had already asked him to kiss me."

"And your own feelings, Miss Granger?" Verrell asked. "You mentioned that you felt a connection with Mr. Potter, but what did you feel?"

"The same as Harry, more or less: protectiveness and caring. I wanted him to survive that war, no matter what." Hermione shook her head slightly. "Okay, I think you've made the point that somehow, some way our magic interpreted what happened that day as an actual wedding. What do we do now?"

"I think I'd like to hear what you think of my Ronnie first." Molly said. Harry could see that she was fixing Hermione with a hard stare. "I thought I knew what you felt, but after everything that's happened I'd like to be sure."

"Um, well, Ron was the only boy that seemed to see me... as a girl I mean."

"I believe Harry just reminded us that Krum beat him to the punch there." George reminded her. Harry resisted the urge to slap the redhead upside the head. It had to be now of all times that he was rediscovering his love of causing chaos.

"Viktor is a good friend, but I don't think either of us were willing to make it more than that. When we saw him again at Bill and Fleur's wedding he hardly paid any attention to me. I think we can safely call that a holiday romance on his part and an infatuation on mine." Hermione disagreed with a shake of her head. "Ron's always been a good friend and that's really a better foundation for a romantic relationship."

"By that logic Harry would still be just as good a fit though." Charlie argued. "And you don't seem to fight with him nearly as much."

"Oi! Whose side are you on?" Ron demanded from his brother.

"The side that's interested in figuring this thing out, now hush. Hermione?"

"Well, Harry was interested in Cho Chang from our third year until he actually took her out in fifth year. At that point he already had one foot in the war and wasn't really focused on dating until he took up with Ginny at the end of our sixth year. Has that cleared up your suspicions, Molly?" Mrs. Weasley's expression didn't inspire any confidence that her suspicions _had_ in fact been cleared up and Harry decided to intervene before another argument could erupt.

"Since Hermione has answered the questions, perhaps we could get back to the matter of what we're going to do now?" Harry asked, a little annoyed that everyone was more interested in dissecting the past than finding a solution to this problem.

"It would be traditional for you to take Mrs. Potter on a honeymoon trip sometime in the next few weeks." Verrell offered. "Well, normally you would have done so by now, but I think we can excuse it because of your ignorance on the matter." Harry shot the man a glare.

"I was thinking more along the lines of annulling this marriage between Hermione and myself so she can have the wedding she chose."

"And why are you calling her 'Mrs. Potter' all of a sudden?" Ginny demanded.

"Well, I now have sufficient information to understand what has happened to bring us here. There was indeed a wedding between Mr. and Mrs. Potter at that church in Godric's Hollow and having established that their bond is indeed valid it would inappropriate to keep addressing her as an unmarried woman. As for annulment: for the marriage to cease to be, the magic of each spouse would have to reject the other; words spoken would not be enough. Given the way Mr. and Mrs. Potter have spoken about each other that is not going to happen without some fairly drastic changes to the way they see each other. Unless you can come up with a way to make them hate each other I cannot recommend any course of action aside from a pleasant honeymoon."

"So that's it?! Hermione's Mrs. Potter and we can't do anything to change it?" Ginny cried out, tears streaming down her face.

"Well,... yes." the bonder admitted awkwardly to the clearly upset young woman. Ginny's tears just increased and she let out a miserable scream before charging out of the room. Ron's fist was already swinging back in the air as his glare locked onto Harry. Thankfully Bill and Charlie managed to grab a hold of their brother before a brawl could ensue.

"Let go of me!" Ron snarled. "I'm gonna pound that bastard flat! He stole my girl!"

"Calm down, Ron. I think we just established that they didn't do this on purpose." Bill tried.

"Yeah, well they're sure as hell not fixing it either."

"I don't think I can, Ron." Harry spoke up. He didn't think he could say that he had come to terms with the idea of being married to Hermione by any stretch of the imagination, but he knew one thing for sure: "If I could I would. I want to see you both happy, but I don't think I have it in me to hate Hermione." Something about Harry's words caused Ron to stop struggling against his brothers as their eyes met. Harry was shocked at the amount of hatred in that gaze. Sure, he could understand rage and resentment at what had happened, but this felt a lot more personal.

"Piss off." Ron growled at last. "I don't want to see either of you traitors ever again." With that he tore himself free from his brothers' grip and followed Ginny out of the room. Harry and Hermione shared an uncomfortable look at their friend's abrupt and angry departure. Around them an awkward silence filled the room.

"I think I'll go let any guests that are left know that the wedding's off." Mrs. Weasley eventually broke the silence. "Harry, Hermione, I think it would be best if you didn't come around here for the foreseeable future." Despite having always reminded himself that if it came to a conflict between him and her real children he would lose, it still hit Harry hard to have Mrs. Weasley's slightly cold tone confirm that.

"Um, Harry?" Hermione's voice reminded him that he was likely not the only one feeling like that and that Hermione also had the spectacular crash of her relationship to deal with on top of that.

"Yeah, Hermione?"

"Could you help me collect my things? I'll probably need them if Ron, Ginny and Molly were serious."

"Sure. Where are they?"

"... Ginny's room."

"Are you sure that you want me along for something like that?"

"I'm sure. Ginny won't like it, but I don't really want her to take out her frustrations on my things either."

"I'm sure Ginny wouldn't do that." Arthur protested. Harry and Hermione shared another uncomfortable look. Neither of them thought that Ginny would do something like that without regret, but it wouldn't be the first time that her emotions took over and made her do something that she hadn't meant to. Her relationship with Harry alone was enough to provide a solid foundation of evidence for that. "We'll make sure that she doesn't do that." Arthur assured, apparently reading their looks correctly. In the end neither Harry nor Hermione could bring themselves to call Mr. Weasley's promise into question.

"We'll-... we'll just head out then. Please let us know when you think that Ron and Ginny would be willing to talk to us again." Harry offered, uncomfortably aware of how awkward the atmosphere in the Weasleys' living room had gotten. He grabbed Hermione's hand and began pulling her towards the back door. Hermione resisted for a moment before apparently deciding that there was little to be gained from staying. Together the two friends stepped outside where they were met with the ravages of what was supposed to have been the scene of Ron and Hermione's wedding. The fleeing guests hadn't spared much care for the painstakingly placed decorations and the whole garden was a mess of toppled chairs and shredded bunting. Harry couldn't help but think that it was somehow an appropriate representation of how the day had gone.

"I-... I guess I'll head over to the Leaky Cauldron and see if Tom has a room for me." Hermione said in a stunned voice. Harry thought that it sounded like she still hadn't come to terms with what was happening to her.

"Don't be daft." he scolded in return, still feeling a little unsteady himself. "I have more than enough rooms at Grimmauld Place that there's no reason for you to throw away money like that."

"Wouldn't me staying with you reinforce the idea that we're... you know, married?"

"The Prophet and Witch Weekly are going to write whatever they want anyway, no matter what we do." Harry shrugged.

"What about Ron and Ginny?"

"They still have their rooms as well. They can come over any time they want." Harry watched as Hermione bit her bottom lip as she clearly held an internal debate on what the wisest course of action would be.

"Fine. I suppose you're right." she finally relented. "I don't really relish asking for a room for one while still wearing my wedding dress." Harry couldn't help the small smile that blossomed on his face as he imagined the scene.

"What a sight that would be. Maybe I should have kept my mouth shut." he teased his best friend.

"Oh, hush you." Hermione huffed in return. There was a slight light in her eyes that showed that she could at least see the funny side of that particular image. The moment of levity was short-lived as the reality of why they were even discussing the idea in the first place cast a shadow over their hearts. Harry reached out and took Hermione's hand. He gave it a bracing squeeze and waited for the nod back before apparating the two of them straight into the front hall of number 12 Grimmauld Place. The familiar surroundings gave a sense of protection and Harry released a breath that carried with it some of the tension that had piled up in the Burrow's living room. Next to him he heard Hermione do the same. The sighs had barely left their lips when a pop announced the appearance of Kreacher.

"Master is home? Kreacher was not expecting Master. Did something happen?"

"I suppose you could say that, Kreacher." Harry agreed. "Starting today Hermione is going to be living here with us. She's going to need her things though, so could you get them for us? They should be in Ginny's room at the Burrow."

"Kreacher will do this, Master." The old elf paused a moment before asking carefully. "Will Master and his bride be wanting dinner?" Harry had to take a moment to blink away that sense of wrong-footedness that still occasionally assaulted him when speaking with a house elf.

"Yes, we will. Do I need to do some shopping or do we have enough food in the house?"

"Kreacher has enough, Master." the old elf replied solemnly. "Kreacher will return with Mistress's things shortly."

"You don't-" Hermione began before the pop of Kreacher's disapparition cut off her sentence. "He doesn't need to call me 'Mistress'." she finished off sounding a little lost.

"I've lost track of the amount of times I've told him that he doesn't need to call me 'Master'." Harry told her. "Whenever I do he starts emphasising the word as if he's trying to teach me something. I've decided that if he's that set in his ways I'll let him do as he likes and just pretend that he's saying 'Harry' whenever he addresses me." Judging by the stubborn tilt that Hermione's mouth took on she was not going to be deterred by his experiences though. "Why don't we go get changed?" Harry suggested instead. "You can draw a bath and by the time you're done Kreacher will probably have all your things arranged in your room." Hermione's face took on a look of yearning when she heard his suggestion.

"I think a nice long soak might be just what the doctor ordered." she agreed.

"Well, get going then, Miss Granger. Doctor's orders." Harry grinned as he gave her a small shove towards the stairs. He was worried when instead of smiling and heading up the stairs Hermione turned glum again.

"It's not 'Miss Granger' anymore though, is it?" she asked sadly. Harry stepped over to her and gently grabbed her shoulders causing Hermione to look up into his eyes to ask what he was up to.

"Hermione, we'll talk more about it over dinner, but just so we're clear: to me you're Hermione Granger until we decide otherwise. Getting caught in another situation that couldn't possibly happen to anyone but the two of us isn't going to change that." This time Hermione did manage a slight smile and Harry pulled her into a comforting hug. Once he had the feeling that Hermione had her emotions in check again he released her and gave her another small push towards the stairs. "Now go. You have that very medicinal bath waiting for you, remember?"

"Yes, Doctor Potter." Hermione responded with something that might have been playfulness on any other day before heading up the stairs to her usual room and its en-suite bathroom. Harry's eyes followed her up. When she was out of sight the smile he'd been keeping on his face for her sake slipped off to reveal the concern underneath. _At least she can still smile. I think that means there's a chance that she'll come out of this alright. No, I'll make_ sure _that she comes out of this alright. If we're technically married then she's my family and I'm going to do whatever it takes to make sure that she can be happy._ Decision made and steadied by his resolve Harry went up to his own room to get changed out of his dress robes. They weren't the most comfortable clothes to begin with and he didn't think that sitting down to dinner while wearing a reminder of what had just happened was the best choice. When he got back downstairs, wearing comfortable muggle clothing, Harry found Kreacher in the kitchen preparing dinner.

"Master is to be sitting down. Master is not to be trying to help Kreacher cook again." the old elf greeted him warily. Harry thought he looked ready to defend his place at the stove by main force if need be. Too tired to try and argue his way into doing at least some of the work Harry just nodded and sat down at the kitchen table to an approving nod from his house elf. Kreacher turned back to his cooking, apparently reassured that there would be no unwelcome interruptions to his task. Harry simply sat there and watched Kreacher work as jumbled memories, impressions and emotions of the day danced through his mind. He wasn't really sure about exactly how long he had been sitting there when Hermione walked in. She was dressed like he was in comfortable muggle clothing. "Mistress is to be sitting down with Master." Kreacher warned sternly upon seeing another human entering his domain. Hermione shot Harry a questioning look and he waved his hand tiredly to indicate that she should just go with it.

"Kreacher? Why are you calling me 'Mistress'?" Hermione asked as she sat down across from Harry.

"Mistress has married Master, yes?" Kreacher asked.

"A few years ago apparently, but yes." Harry answered with a sigh.

"Then Mistress is Mistress." Kreacher said in a tone that suggested that he didn't understand why the humans were being difficult.

"You don't have to call me Mistress, Kreacher." Hermione tried. "You've not done it before and like Harry just said: we've apparently been married for a few years already."

"Kreacher will punish himself once he is finishing dinner." the old elf agreed with a nod.

"No." Harry interrupted sharply. "Remember the order I gave you when I moved into the house."

"Kreacher is not allowed to punish himself." Kreacher recited. "Kreacher asks permission to punish himself for disrespecting the Mistress, Master."

"Denied." Harry replied immediately. "We didn't know that we were married, Kreacher, so how could we have expected you to know and act accordingly?" Kreacher mulled that over for a moment before slowly nodding.

"Master is right." he murmured. "But now that Kreacher knows, Kreacher must show proper respect."

"No, that's really alright. You can just call me Hermione." Hermione tried. Harry just waited for the inevitable response.

"Kreacher is honoured, Mistress Hermione." the elf said with a low bow.

"No, I meant that you could just refrain from calling me 'Mistress'. 'Hermione' without the title will do." Harry noticed that there was a slightly desperate tinge to Hermione's voice.

"Mistress Hermione is to be addressed as Mistress." Kreacher replied mulishly.

"Harry, can't you do something about this?" Hermione asked desperately.

"Apparently not." Harry told her wryly. "It seems that the number of Blacks who have ordered Kreacher to show proper deference is a lot higher than the two of us. Until there are enough of us to countermand a lifetime's worth of orders we're not going to get anywhere. What's wrong?" The question was added in a concerned tone when Harry noticed Hermione's face paling drastically.

"I-I don't think I'm quite ready for that yet, Harry." Hermione stammered out.

"Ready for what?" Harry asked in confusion.

"Um, to... expand our family." It took Harry a moment to follow Hermione's train of thought and realise what she was talking about.

"No! I didn't-... I wasn't-... I wasn't trying to suggest that we have children." Harry got out, stammering as badly as Hermione had a moment earlier. At least his shock got a giggle out of Hermione as her entire body seemed to relax at his frantic denials that he had been planning anything along those lines.

"I'm sorry, Harry. I shouldn't have assumed. It probably is something that we should talk about at some point though." she told him with a smile. "I think we can table that discussion for now though."

"Please." Harry agreed in relief.

"We probably shouldn't put off talking about what we're going to do about the situation we're in. I think your suggestion is probably the best course of action to take."

"Suggestion?" Harry felt lost. When had he suggested anything at all that might count as a solution to their current problem.

"When you said that I would be Hermione Granger to you for now." Hermione smiled.

"Oh. I just meant that I didn't want you to be uncomfortable or feel like you had to do anything you didn't want to." Harry confessed, not wanting Hermione to think that he had somehow figured this whole thing out.

"Thank you, Harry." Hermione told him with that smile still on her lips. "That's kind of what I meant though. We're probably better off not trying to force anything."

"So we start by not changing how we treat each other?" Harry clarified as he felt a weight lift off of his shoulders. "That sounds doable." Hermione let out an actual laugh at hearing that.

"I'm glad you think so. The part that worries me is how we deal with what other people are going to think."

"Let them all drown in their own shit." Harry snorted. "We learnt that other people's opinions don't have to matter to us when we were in school."

"All the same I'd rather not go through what we did when we were fifteen. Besides, I was thinking more about what Mr. Verrell said about having to register with the Ministry. He's probably got them expecting us by now."

"Maybe we'd be better off talking to Kingsly about this." Harry suggested. "Even if he doesn't know exactly how to deal with this he might be able to point us to someone who does. At the very least he should be able to help us find someone who can explain exactly what's going on and why we have to do anything."

"That's not a bad idea." Hermione mused. Harry recognised her expression and half expected her to declare that she had to go to the library to check something. The sight of Hermione analysing a problem was undeniably comforting though. "Do you think that he'd be free to talk to us now? I'd like to get this done before we have to face our colleagues tomorrow."

"Technically you could still take the leave you were given for your honeymoon." Harry pointed out. "I don't think anyone would be able to blame you for getting your feet back under you before heading back into work."

"I don't think so, Harry." Hermione told him with a slightly pained expression. "I think I would prefer to be at work and keeping busy than to sit at home and be constantly reminded that I'm not on my honeymoon because my wedding blew up in my face; literally. Besides, it wouldn't be fair to make you face the wolves by yourself when this is something we are very much stuck in together."

"We might be in this together, but you know as well as I do that you're going to be catching more heat for this than I will because you tried to marry Ron. None of those idiots are going to stop and think about whether or not I would have stood next to you guys as your best man if this really was a case of my wife marrying my best mate."

"You're not going to convince me to hide from these _idiots_ just so you can face them down for me, Harry." Hermione told him sharply. "Since you don't seem to know if Kingsley will be in I suppose I shall simply have to call him and find out." She got up, clearly upset, and marched over to the fireplace. Harry stifled a sigh as he realised that he must have done something to add to Hermione's burden. _I'll have to fix that as soon as I can._ Hermione meanwhile had already thrown some floo powder into the fire and was crouching with her head in the flames. When she stood back up she shot Harry a neutral look. "Kingsley will be here in a minute after he finishes the paperwork he had in front of him." she informed him.

"Look, Hermione, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you." Harry offered. Hermione studied him for a moment before her shoulders seemed to slump.

"I know that, Harry, but you always do this. You always try to take everything on your shoulders all by yourself. If we're going to be… partners, then I need us to be _full_ partners. I won't be a part of a marriage where I am dictated to."

"Is that why you chose Ron?" The words were out of Harry's mouth before he could stop them.

"Sort of." Hermione admitted uncomfortably. "Ron would argue with me about relatively small things. If I really made it clear that I expected him to do something he usually would. You… you're a lot more independent in a lot of ways. I don't know if it's down to how you grew up, but you always seemed to need less validation… need _me_ less than Ron did."

"I always thought that the reason I could ignore what every other idiot was saying was because I was sure that I knew how you felt about me and I could tell myself that yours was the only opinion that mattered." Harry admitted while experiencing a slight sinking feeling. "What about blokes aside from Ron or me?"

"Harry, you two were the only people outside of my family that I ever really built any kind of a social relationship with. Did you really expect me to stray too far away from that?"

"Well, I suppose that means we should at least be grateful that this didn't happen to you and Zabini or someone." Harry tried. Hermione's answering huff of amusement sounded almost like it had escaped without her consent.

"Yes, I suppose that if I had to be married to someone accidentally there are quite a few people I would have had more of a problem with." she admitted with a smile that looked a little bit rueful.

"I would have had quite a bit of a problem with other people as well." he told her with a similar smile, before pulling her into a gentle hug. It took a few seconds before Hermione's arms answered the hug, but when they did Harry was squeezed as tightly as he ever had been.

"Am I interrupting something?" a deep voice sounded from behind the embracing couple. They jumped apart in surprise.

"Shack!"

"Kingsley!" Harry and Hermione shared a look after their simultaneous exclamations. Harry indicated that Hermione should take the lead on this and she accepted with a barely perceptible nod. "Um, would you like something to drink, Minister?" she asked awkwardly.

"A cup of tea, please. And you know that you don't need to refer to me by my job title, don't you?" As Kingsley finished speaking a tea service appeared on the kitchen table, complete with a steaming pot that was leaking out an enticing aroma with its steam. "Excellent service." the Minister commented, sitting down. "When's Ron joining us?"

"I-... I don't think he'll be coming, Kingsley." Hermione said with a small hitch in her voice. Harry stepped closer to her and laid a hand on her forearm in support of what had to be a difficult admission for Hermione. She laid her opposite hand softly over his for a heartbeat before Kingsley's surprise demanded their attention again.

"He's not? I was sure this was going to be about what happened at the wedding today."

"It is." Hermione took a deep breath before relating what had happened in the Weasley's living room. The words tumbled out of her like an avalanche and Harry was grateful that Shack simply listened and didn't interrupt. Perhaps he could feel, as Harry could, that if Hermione didn't get this off of her chest now that it might grow and fester within her until it exploded out at the worst possible moment. When the entire tale was told Kingsley remained silent for a moment.

"I don't think I know of anyone who knows more about marriage bonds than Gengulphus Verrell. It's why he's currently in charge of that department. That he officiated at your wedding despite having been retired from leading actual ceremonies for two years already is due to your status in the wizarding world." Kingsley said in his slow, deep rumble. "If Gengulphus says that the two of you are married then I don't think there's a single person who will gainsay that. At this point the best thing you can do is submit your wedding certificate to his office as soon as you can." Kingsley held up a hand to stall the protests he could clearly see coming. "I'm not saying that you have to agree with it or suddenly start acting married, but if you leave this then there is a good chance that someone will try to use it to cause further trouble for you. From what you've told me this is going to be difficult enough for the two of you without inviting extra hardships to your doorstep."

"Thanks for your advice, Shack." Harry said after it became clear that Hermione was still wrestling with the information they had just been presented.

"I'm just sorry that I wasn't able to do more for you." Kingsley demurred.

"Yeah, well, at this point it's starting to look like we're just going to have to learn to live with it." Kingsley said a subdued goodbye to both of them and ducked back through the swirling green flames to his office. "Guess I'd better see if I can even find that marriage certificate." Harry muttered to himself.

"I'll help, Harry." Hermione said in a tired voice. He was about to tell her that she could take it easy on the couch while he searched for their old tent, but Hermione cut him off before he could. "Together, Harry. We're in this together. Don't even think about suggesting that you will hand this to the Department of Bonds by yourself either." Harry just held his hands up in surrender. Like he had told Shack only moments before: this was his life now and he had to learn to live it.

* * *

 **AN:** Hello there, everyone. I realise that it's been a long while since I posted anything, but my life has been... _hectic_. Hopefully it will stabilise soon as I am starting a new job on January 2nd. I hope that all of you have similarly good news to carry you into the new year. Whether you do or don't: here's a new fic to help the ride. It was supposed to be a one-shot Christmas present to all of you, but once it cracked 30'000 words I thought that it might be better to start splitting it up into chapters. I'm aiming to have the next instalment out around New Year's.

I ask that you forgive any mistakes on the religious stuff. I'm no expert on the stuff and found it all on Google. Having said that:

The Bible passage is from Ecclesiastes 4:9.

The vows are Church of England standard.

The magical wedding vows are an adaptation of the Wiccan wedding vows.

Gengulphus is the patron saint of difficult marriages.

The _Stuprum_ in _Stuprum Revelio_ is Latin for 'adultery, debauchery, rape etc.'.

A clay baker is obviously a potter. Ackerman and Granger are both Middle-English words for farmer.

As always: thank you for reading. Merry Christmas and a happy New Year from UrsaMinor and myself.


	2. Chapter 2

Hermione stumbled through the floo at Grimmauld Place. She couldn't believe that her job at the Department of Inter-Species Relations had turned into such a chore so quickly. It was only six weeks earlier that she and Harry had submitted their wedding certificate to the Ministry. With a wave of Mr. Verrell's wand their cover names had become their real ones and Hermione had officially become Mrs. Potter; at least as far as the Ministry was concerned. Unfortunately their actions had confirmed the rumours that had been swirling around like maddened hornets and now it seemed like she couldn't go an hour without noticing one of her colleagues casting her a disgusted look or overhearing a poorly hidden whisper about what a gold digging, faithless whore she was.

She was also a little ashamed that she had started caring less and less about dropping her suitcase and cloak on her way to the couch and watching them disappear between blinks as Kreacher happily served his new mistress. She collapsed on the couch and let her head drop against the backrest and closed her eyes. A brief pair of pops was the only thing that disturbed the silence around her but Hermione wasn't ready to give up her isolation from the real world long enough to see what it was that Kreacher had come in for after clearing away her things. Even the woosh of the floo activating once again and the movement of the couch cushions as another body slumped into them didn't seem like enough of a reason to open her eyes.

"Rough day?" Harry's voice asked from somewhere in her self-imposed darkness. Hermione just grunted in return. "Idiots." Harry declared with feeling before lapsing into silence. Eventually Hermione opened her eyes to find him in more or less the same position she had been in a moment before.

"Did you manage to talk to Ron today?" she asked after a moment's debate about the wisdom of bringing up what might as well have been a lost cause. Harry's face took on a slightly sadder cast.

"No. He's still sticking to his ultimatum." His voice sounded utterly exhausted. Hermione couldn't blame him. Ron had come back after the leave he had requested for their honeymoon and hadn't wasted any time making his opinion on Harry known. Harry had complained more than once about how a group of people who were supposed to solve crimes for a living could spend so little effort on finding the truth of the matter. In the end most of his colleagues had chosen to listen to Ron and the society pages in the Daily Prophet and Witch Weekly who had acted exactly as Harry had predicted and written whatever they felt like without ever asking Harry and Hermione about their perspective on what had happened. He was just as isolated from his colleagues as she was from hers.

"Have you reached a decision yet?" Hermione asked, trying to keep her voice gentle, or at least neutral. Ron had loudly, and fairly publicly, confronted Gawain Robbards with an ultimatum: either Harry would be fired from the Auror Corps or Ron would resign. Robbards had so far pretty much ignored the threat and was pretending that it had never happened. The rumours had it that he didn't want to alienate any of the Young Heroes, but that if push came to shove he would side with Harry Potter over Ronald Weasley. Harry had been racking his brains ever since for a way to resolve the matter before that push finally came.

Hermione was rather torn on which way she hoped that the situation would resolve itself. On the one hand she didn't want Harry to be working for someone who was opportunistic to the point of nearly being corrupt and on the other she didn't want Harry being forced to leave his dream job for something that wasn't really his fault.

"No." The matter was only made more complicated by the fact that Harry seemed to have realised something that Hermione wasn't sure that Ron had: only one of the two men had the necessary qualifications to find another job. After the war, anti-discrimination laws had been passed and it was now illegal to take anyone other than the best candidate for any given post. Since Ron had never taken his N.E.W.T.s it would be difficult for any potential employers to make the argument that he was more qualified than any other witch or wizard.

Knowing Ron as she did Hermione was sure that he hadn't considered this aspect of his ultimatum. She didn't know how long it had taken Harry to realise this implication either, but she did know that Harry was excruciatingly aware of the fact now and was desperately looking to diffuse the situation in a way that wouldn't lead to their best friend being permanently unemployed.

"I was thinking of going to talk to George." Harry spoke up after a long silence. "He's the only member of the family that I think might listen to me and he might be able to talk some sense into his brother. Even if he fails we might be able to give Ron a bit of a safety net. Since WWW is a family owned company there might be some leeway in hiring family members." _There isn't._ Hermione had checked for that loophole almost a month ago when the same thought had occurred to her. She couldn't bring herself to heap another disappointment on Harry right now though. She wasn't even sure if she would tell Harry before he tried to set up a meeting with George.

Hermione didn't need to ask why Harry hadn't gone to visit him yet. After her failed wedding the Weasleys had become decidedly cold to her and Harry. It hurt to lose people she had been starting to think of as her in-laws and pretty much the only family she'd had left after it turned out that there was no way to restore her parents' memories. She knew that Harry must have a similar feeling of loss since he had looked at the Weasleys as a surrogate family almost since coming to the wizarding world.

Neither Harry nor Hermione really blamed the Weasleys for their attitude. They both understood that the whole family must feel hurt and betrayed. Despite that, Hermione did feel sad knowing that this wedge that had been driven between them and the Weasleys would never go away. She certainly wouldn't be able to forget that when it had come down to it the whole family had shut her and Harry out for something that was essentially an accident. She didn't think Harry would be able to forget it either.

After a few more minutes of lying draped across the couch Hermione began to feel uncomfortable with her own idleness. It hadn't been so bad before Harry had shown up, but with him here to witness her not doing anything… it was getting under Hermione's skin. Abruptly she stood up.

"I'm just going to read over a few things before Kreacher calls us down for dinner." she told Harry despite knowing full well that she had finished all her work at the office and suspecting that Harry would know that too. Harry just grunted in understanding, allowing Hermione to make her escape.

Up in her room Hermione flopped forward on her bed and groaned into the pillow. For just a moment it was all too much. She didn't know how she was supposed to find the good in this situation. Even Harry's friendship wasn't enough to cheer her up anymore and that might be a first in their eleven years of friendship. _Then again, I don't think I'm really enough to cheer him up anymore either. The burden is simply growing too large._ Hermione's thoughts continued to spiral down and down along that depressing track. Her body followed suit and curled itself up in an effort to protect itself from the assault on her spirit. Just when Hermione was becoming convinced that she would never be able to pull herself out of that pit of despair a loud pop caused her tense body to jerk upright, pulling her thoughts with it.

"Kreacher apologises for startling Mistress." The old elf sounded truly regretful as he stared up at her with big, wet eyes. "Kreacher was just popping in to tell Mistress that there is visitors. Master said that he thought that Mistress might want to speak to them."

"Is it Ron? Ginny?" Hermione asked, hoping against hope that the two Weasleys might have stopped by to talk about what had happened. Kreacher shook his head gently.

"It is not being the redheads, Mistress. Master is calling them Mister 'Nev' and Miss 'Luna'." Despite her disappointment that it wasn't Ron who had come to visit Hermione felt the tension in her body subsiding slightly. She and Harry hadn't had any social contact with anyone in the magical world for so long that the idea of Neville and Luna stopping by felt like a breath of fresh air.

Hermione took a quick moment to check her appearance in the mirror as she tried to remove all traces of her earlier state of mind. She didn't think she would be up for explaining her thoughts. She couldn't even work them out for herself, never mind the three downstairs. Once she was sure that no one would be able to discern that anything was wrong with her, Hermione hurried down the stairs to meet her friends. She found them sitting with Harry in the kitchen.

"Hermione!" Luna bounced out of her seat and pulled the other witch into a hug.

"Oh, Luna, it's good to see you." Hermione smiled, returning the hug.

"Oi, where's my hug?" Neville asked in faux-indignation. "I even showered after leaving the greenhouse and everything." Hermione could hear Harry chuckling and the sound was almost foreign to her ears. She ruthlessly pushed that thought aside and gave Neville the hug he had asked for.

"It's good to see you too, Neville." she told him as if she was placating a small child. There was a slight smirk on her face as she did so and it felt almost as unusual as Harry's laughter had.

"I've already invited them to stay for dinner." Harry revealed as Hermione sat down next to him.

"And pudding." Luna added quickly.

"Yes, and pudding." Harry agreed with a laugh. A glass of wine appeared in front of Hermione and she took a sip before launching herself into the happy conversation around her. It almost hurt how unnatural some things had begun to feel in such a short six weeks. Hermione caught herself staring more than once when she heard Harry laugh but couldn't help herself. It was like she had been walking through a desert and had now found a life-saving oasis. There had been precious little joy and laughter in her life recently and she was only just starting to realise how deprived she had been. Her reactions probably didn't go unnoticed by her friends.

"So, how have the two of you been holding up since… let's call it the incident?" Neville asked eventually. Hermione could tell by his tone of voice that he was trying not to upset them. Next to her she felt rather than saw Harry closing off.

"I won't lie and say that it hasn't been difficult, Neville. You two are the first people who have been willing to speak with us like this. Everyone else seems convinced that we did it on purpose."

"That's ridiculous." Neville snorted. "Do they think that people just help their spouse plan a wedding to someone else? Or attend as the best man? Or that you would even consider bigamy?"

"People are frequently beset by Wrackspurts, Neville." Luna reminded him serenely before peering at her other two friends. "The two of you need to be careful though. It looks like you are taking on the infections of those other people. Have your thoughts become more fuzzy recently?" Hermione couldn't banish the picture of herself lying on her bed, unable to break from the spiral of thoughts she had been caught in. A mental shake later she was refocused on her friends.

"... rumours as bad as they ever were at Hogwarts." Harry was saying. "It wouldn't be so bad if Ron would just come and talk everything out with us. We learnt long ago that we can face these sorts of things if we have our friends next to us."

"Then we'll have to make a sacrifice and stop by here a few more times." Neville sighed.

"Don't think I don't know that you're just in it for Kreacher's excellent cooking." Harry snorted.

"True enough." Neville shrugged nonchalantly before a sly smile broke out on his lips. The two boys antics soon pushed the conversation back onto lighter topics. At the end of the evening both Neville and Luna had agreed that they would stop by for a few more evenings between then and the end of the year at least. Hermione just hoped that she and Harry made it through the winter at the rate they were going.

:-:-:-:-:

Harry was sitting on his bed, staring at a picture of the Golden Trio from their third year. The three children in the photo grinned up at him as they happily gave each other light shoves and occasional bunny ears. _If only I could figure out how to get that back._ All in all Harry didn't really think that he should be up here, alone in his room, on Christmas Eve. In years past he and Hermione would have joined the Weasleys for their Christmas celebration at the Burrow. A quiet conversation with George in a Muggle pub had quickly killed any hope of that happening this year.

George himself didn't have a problem with the pair showing up as they had before, but he had warned them that Ron and Ginny still felt spurned, Molly still felt indignant on their behalf and that Arthur just felt uncomfortable with the atmosphere around the house, even when it was just him and his wife there. George hadn't asked Harry or Hermione to stay away, but neither of them had been able to envision a scenario where their presence would go over well.

As a result they had done their best to decorate Grimmauld Place for Christmas, but with neither of them really able to get into the spirit this year the decorations seemed lacklustre at best. The year had been absolutely awful after all. The only people who were still willing to speak to them without any kind of cutting innuendo were Neville and Luna and those two had their own Christmas traditions to take care of. After the war Harry had heard that Xeno Lovegood had been put into a bed next to the Longbottoms. He had been tortured into insanity for letting the Trio escape when they had come to the Rookery. Harry also knew from Neville that Luna had joined the former Gryffindor in his visits to St. Mungo's and could only hope that they were able to support each other.

The two residents of Grimmauld Place had managed to stick to at least one tradition and gotten each other a present and asked Kreacher what he wanted; the old elf had stubbornly maintained that all he wanted was to be allowed to go all out cooking them a Christmas dinner and Harry and Hermione had eventually caved. The presents they had gotten for the Weasleys had already been returned, unopened.

Harry knew that the return of her gift to Ron had been what caused Hermione to hole up in her own room for the rest of the night and he was fairly sure that he had seen a few tears rolling down her cheeks as she had rushed up the stairs. That sight had been what had sent him up to his own room.

Now that he was sitting here he couldn't help feeling that something was wrong. A year ago he would have said that he would be able to face anything with Hermione by his side, but only six months of living together and he was starting to think that the one thing they might not be able to face together was being married.

 _No. I will_ not _let this be the thing that beats us. One way or another I'm going to figure out a way to change this slump we're in._ A few minutes thought made it clear to Harry that this was easier said than done. He was still wracking his brains for any possible thing he could do that would ease the tension around the house when a pop announced Kreacher's appearance.

"Master, dinner is being ready. Kreacher will inform Mistress." With another pop the old elf was gone. Harry briefly considered ignoring the meal before he remembered that this was Kreacher's Christmas wish and heaved himself to his feet. He gave the photo in his hand one final look and dropped it onto the bed. Feeling like a soldier about to go into battle, Harry marched down the stairs and sat down at a beautifully set kitchen table. A few moments later Hermione shuffled in to join him. The redness of her eyes and cheeks told Harry that he had been right in his supposition that she had just been put through a crying jag. _I have seen her cry far too much this year._

Dinner was delicious and slightly awkward, with neither friend having the energy to make conversation. Harry didn't know what thoughts might be swirling through Hermione's mind, but he was still working on the resolution he had made up in his bedroom: one way or another he had to make things better for them. No revelations made themselves known to him though and no sudden insights stopped his thoughts from simply going around and around. _It's like I'm stuck in a maze with no way out._

Looking up he saw that Hermione was staring sadly at a point somewhere over his shoulder, her fork hovering halfway between her plate and her mouth, the bite she would have taken forgotten. She seemed completely lost to the world and the sight of it cut into Harry's heart.

The pain awoke something. Not the insight he had been looking for or a new understanding of their situation, but rage; pure, simple rage. Rage at the people who had caused Hermione and him this pain, rage at a society that had turned on them once again for something they hadn't meant to do, rage at his own inability to pull them through this. Harry slammed his cutlery down on the table in his fury causing Hermione to start as she was pulled out of her daze. A blink later her expression morphed into shock and a little bit of fear as she was confronted with a furious Harry Potter seemingly out of nowhere.

"We have to do something." he snarled out, not really looking at the woman across the table from him. "We can't go on like this."

"I don't think we can force to people to accept us, Harry." Hermione said quietly. Harry's gaze snapped up to meet her wary one.

"Then sod them. If these people aren't willing to give us anything but grief then I'm done waiting for them to come to their senses."

"What will you do then?" Hermione asked the obvious question.

"I-... I'm going to resign as an auror." Harry blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "Work has become intolerable with all the sniping and the gossiping. We don't really need to work anyway. Between what my parents left me and the rewards and donations I received for ending the war my grandchildren could go through life without having to work. I think I'll take that money and go see what the rest of the world is like." It was an idea that had never really occurred to Harry before, but now that he had spoken it out loud it seemed to crystallise before him. "Come with me, Hermione."

"What?" Hermione had clearly not expected her Christmas dinner to take this turn.

"Come with me." he repeated. "Let's leave this place and these people. I don't want to put up with them anymore. I don't want to have to smile like what they're doing isn't tearing us to pieces… I don't want to watch you hurting any more." Hermione was looking at him like she had never seen him before.

"But what about our friends?" she asked eventually.

"They'll understand. Luna and Neville go on expeditions all the time. Hell, they might even have a few good suggestions about places we could go."

"And-... and the Weasleys?" Harry could hear the pain twisting Hermione's voice and it hardened his resolve.

"It's like you just said: we can't force them to accept what happened. We've tried reasoning with them and it hasn't worked. We've tried focusing on their feelings and it hasn't helped. I think it's time we tried taking care of ourselves first and, who knows, the separation might be what finally gets them to a place where they can act like our friends again." He could see from Hermione's expression that she wasn't entirely convinced by this plan yet. "I don't want to see you wasting away in misery, Hermione."

"Will you let me sleep on it for a night?" she asked after thinking about it for a moment.

"Of course." Harry agreed before quirking her a slight smile. "To be honest, I should probably do that myself since I only came up with this plan at the dinner table just now. I really do think it would be better for me to resign from my job though… and I think you should too. The way things are going now is going to squash the life out of us before long." Hermione didn't answer, but she did give a thoughtful nod.

In the end neither of them brought it up again until New Year's Eve. They were sitting in their living room staring into a roaring fire, lost in their individual thoughts. Eventually Harry's thoughts led him back to the conversation they had had a week earlier. That wasn't particularly strange as his thoughts hadn't been far from that particular topic ever since he had brought it up. Personally he felt that he had come to a decision, but he wasn't going to push it through at the expense of losing Hermione. Now he could only ask how she felt about what he had proposed.

"Hermione?"

"Yeah?"

"Have you thought about what I suggested last week?" Hermione gave him a look that said she would have really rather not talked about this.

"I have. I just can't quite convince myself that this is a good idea though. I don't like the idea that we'd be living off of your money without doing any kind of work."

"Would you feel better if we decided on a purpose before leaving?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, something like hunting the horcruxes... though maybe a little less dramatic and potentially world ending. If we have a worthwhile goal that we want to accomplish, would you feel less like we're not doing anything to deserve the money we'd be using?"

"Maybe. What on earth would we be working towards though?" Harry didn't immediately answer for the simple reason that he hadn't really thought about this before. He had simply brought it up in response to Hermione's objections. Now that he was considering it though only one thing really came to mind.

"We could look for a way to restore your parents' memories without hurting them."

"That's not funny, Harry." Hermione snapped.

"I wasn't joking." Harry defended himself. "Right now we don't think that there is a way to reverse a Memory Charm, but people aren't supposed to survive Killing Curses, use time turners at school or get married by accident either. If nothing else we'll be able to do a lot of research on Charms."

"You'll do research?" Hermione asked sceptically.

"I-... I'd help." Harry offered awkwardly, well aware that if there was any research to be done, Hermione would likely be taking the lead on that. "Look, restoring your parents' memories doesn't have to be our goal if you don't want it to be. It was just a suggestion." Hermione stayed silent and Harry thought it was best to let the matter lie where it did.

The two friends wished each other a happy new year at midnight and went to bed shortly afterward. When he went back to work after New Year's Day, Harry let Robbards know that he would be resigning and to consider this conversation his two weeks notice. To say that the Head of the DMLE was shocked would have been an understatement, but no amount of begging or bonuses could convince Harry to change his mind. The mere fact of announcing that he was leaving had already produced such a sense of lightness in him that he wasn't going to just chain himself down again. Throughout the day Harry noticed a slight uptick in gossip about him from the number of conversations that stopped abruptly when he walked into earshot and for once he couldn't care less. _Let them talk. They'll have to find something else to gossip about soon enough._

The real surprise for Harry came as he was heading home. He had just left the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and was stepping out of the lift into the atrium. The relief that had persisted throughout the day had him almost skipping to the floos, a strange mood to be in for someone as opposed to magical travel as Harry was. He stopped short when he caught sight of a head of curling, chestnut hair standing by the new Fountain of Magical Brotherhood. Hermione was wearing a truly happy smile; one he'd seen far too little of over the last half a year.

"Hermione!" he called out as he jogged over, his own face still locked into an equally happy smile. She waved at him and stood up as he approached, convincing him that she had been waiting for him. "Did something good happen today?" he asked when he got close enough that he didn't have to yell anymore.

"Yes, I rather think it did." Hermione smiled as she fell into step with him.

"Well? Don't keep me in suspense."

"Around lunch time I had heard from just about everyone who didn't realise that I was listening that you had resigned from the Aurors. I caught a glimpse of you in the cafeteria and you looked happier than I've seen you in ages so… I handed in my resignation as well."

"You did?!"

"Yes. Despite your recklessness apparently rubbing off on me I'm still not sure whether going on a madcap adventure is the right idea, though." Hermione's warning would probably have carried more weight without that beaming smile. "Seeing how happy you looked just made me realise that I didn't want to be stuck in this place a moment longer. I have at least two weeks to think about what comes next, but at the very least my future includes a new career with fewer busybodies." With a loud laugh, Harry grabbed Hermione in a hug, lifted her up and swung her around. The joy that both of them were free of at least some of the oppressive atmosphere that had cast such a cloud over their lives left him with more joy than he could easily express. "Put me down, you lunatic!" Hermione cried out through her laughter as she wrapped her arms around Harry's shoulders more tightly. Harry let her feet touch the ground again as he beamed at her.

"This is brilliant." he breathed out as he did his best to imprint the happy expression on Hermione's face in his memory. "We have to go home and celebrate."

"We just got done with the holidays." Hermione's protest didn't sound anything like a real complaint.

"We both know that we weren't in the mood for those." Harry snorted dismissively. "This is _our_ holiday; our celebration of a new beginning that goes beyond getting a new calendar."

"Oh, alright then." Hermione relented with an undimming smile. "We'll have a celebration before we spend two more weeks working at our soon-to-be-former jobs."

"Glad you see it my way." Harry grinned happily. "Let's go then. We still have to convince Kreacher that he's allowed to be part of the celebration and you know that's going to take a while. We can invite Neville and Luna too."

"Isn't that a little short-notice?"

"Fair point. We'll invite them to join us when we're done with this place. If two weeks is enough of a warning for the Ministry then those two will be able to work miracles in that same time." Harry took Hermione's musical laughter as agreement and held out the floo powder for her. The two friends traveled back to Grimmauld Place feeling good about what the future held for them for the first time in a long time.

:-:-:-:-:

Two weeks after Harry and Hermione had told their respective department heads about their resignations, they left the Ministry for Magic as employees for the last time. They didn't waste a lot of time making themselves at home when they got back to Grimmauld Place. Instead they got showered and changed while Kreacher was pleased to be allowed to cook his second feast in two weeks. They had barely gotten everything squared away when the floo flared and Neville Longbottom stepped out of the hearth.

"Neville!" Hermione exclaimed, her muggle dress swirling elegantly around her legs as she stepped forward to give their friend a hug. "How are your studies going?"

"As nice as Pomona is to the students, she's an absolute dragon when you're trying to get a Herbology mastery." Neville told her before turning to Harry and clapping him on the shoulder. "I would ask why I was invited here today, but even my students know that the Great Harry Potter has resigned as an Auror."

"You know, that mastery is going to your head and turning you into a real smart-arse." Harry told his friend without any heat. "It's good to see you, Nev."

"Yeah, yeah. When is Luna getting to this little get-together?"

"You mean you didn't just roll out of her bed to get here?" Harry asked, determined to get a few jabs of his own in before Neville got into his stride.

"None of your business, Potter." Neville smirked.

"Honestly, boys." Hermione huffed. "I'm sure Luna will be by when she's good and ready. Would you like something to drink while we wait, Neville?"

"Whatever you're having is fine, Hermione."

"Elf-wine then. Kreacher managed to find us an absolutely divine case."

"Quite the turnaround from spew, isn't it?" Neville muttered out of the side of his mouth to Harry as Hermione left the room to get the drinks.

"I think Kreacher's wearing her down." Harry replied in a similar tone. "Don't let her hear you mangling that acronym though. She's still a bit sensitive about that."

"And you wonder why people were so ready to assume you married her on purpose..."

"Oi!"

"I'm just saying."

"Just saying what, Neville?" Hermione asked as she came back into the living room.

"Kreacher kick you out of the kitchen again?" Harry asked in a quick effort to save Neville by distracting Hermione.

"Hmph. That elf is utterly unwilling to share any possible work." Hermione huffed. A moment later three glasses of wine appeared on the coffee table. Harry couldn't shake the feeling that somewhere Kreacher was shooting him and Hermione a stern look, implying that they should simply take the wine and stop trying to do chores. He handed Neville and Hermione a glass each and raised the third to them in a silent toast. The three friends spent a while making small talk as they waited for the fourth member of the company to appear. They were only a few minutes in when green flames disgorged a deceptively vacant looking blonde from the fireplace.

"Hello, Harry, Hermione. You seem to have lost a lot of Wrackspurts recently." Luna greeted them after brushing the soot from her wispy silver dress and even sparing some attention to clean her radish earrings.

"Thank you, Luna. I think we did." Hermione replied. Harry thought that was quite a difference from the girl he remembered at school who had almost pulled her hair out in frustration at Luna's insistence on bringing up creatures Hermione was sure were imaginary. Luna was soon holding her own glass of wine and the four friends were happily chatting away. The conversation was moved to the dinner table when Kreacher appeared to inform them that the meal had been served. Inevitably conversation turned to Harry and Hermione's plans for the future over the main course.

"So what are you going to do now that you've decided that government work isn't for you?" Neville asked. "You must have _some_ idea if even Hermione gave up her job for this."

"Actually we don't." Harry admitted. "We've been a little caught up in how liberating it all is."

"Seriously?" Neville asked in shock as he stared at Hermione who looked a little uncomfortable.

"Well, I had given some thought to travelling." Harry told him. "Hermione won't join me unless we have an actual goal we can work towards though."

"To be honest, Harry did come up with a goal, but I'm not sure how comfortable I am with it." Hermione admitted. At her friends' questioning gazes she elaborated. "Harry wanted us to look for a way to reverse the Memory Charms I cast on my parents."

"Oh, well you should talk to Healer Warren Snowdon then, shouldn't they, Neville?" Luna said matter-of-factly.

"Excuse me?"

"Who now?" Hermione and Harry asked their questions at the same time.

"Healer Warren Snowdon." Neville replied seriously. "He was visiting St. Mungo's over the hols; Australian bloke who thinks that looking at the effects of Memory Charms might be able to help him cure brain damage caused by magic. We just kind of overheard the healers talking about him while we were there for our Christmas visit." Towards the end of his explanation Neville's voice got a little tight, as it always did when the subject of his parents came up.

"It would be a good place for you to start if you want to see if it's even possible to bring back your parents' memories." Luna assured Hermione, patting her hand in reassurance. "I should go with you and ask if he has any idea of how a Crumple-Horned Snorcack hides its presence from humans." From there Luna effortlessly pushed the conversation from topic to topic, but Harry was sure that Hermione hadn't forgotten about this Healer Warren Snowdon any more than he had.

Eventually Neville told the group that it was time that he headed back as he was supposed to conduct several patrols this weekend at Hogwarts. Luna immediately decided that she was coming with him. The two said their goodbyes before Luna completely unabashedly called out "Hogwarts, Professor Longbottom's quarters." as she threw a handful of floo powder into the fire.

"Not a word." Neville warned a broadly grinning Harry before mirroring Luna's actions. There was a moment of silence as Harry and Hermione tried to process the last minute. Eventually Harry turned to ask Hermione about the dinner party only to find himself faced with a raised hand.

"Yes, I'm tempted and no, I don't want to talk about it before I've had a chance to think it through." she preempted him. Harry realised that she must have been turning Luna's suggestion over in her head far more than he had expected.

"Alright. There's no rush." he assured his friend. They went to bed a short while later.

:-:-:-:-:

"Harry. Harry, wake up."

"Hmwah? Hermione?"

"When could we leave for Australia?" Harry sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. The darkness around him kept him from guessing the time any more accurately than 'the middle of the bloody night'.

"Australia?"

"I've been lying awake, thinking about that healer that Luna and Neville told us about. I don't think I could live with myself if I didn't at least go and talk to him, so I'm asking you when we could leave for Australia." Harry's brain had slowly caught up to what was happening and he gave Hermione a sleepy smile.

"We'll take the next plane or portkey out." he assured her. "We'll pack in the morning."

"Thank you, Harry." A pair of soft lips pressed to his temple and Harry slipped back into blissful unconsciousness.

:-:-:-:-:

It turned out that the first available transport to Australia was a British Airways flight the next day. Hermione was fairly sure that the only reason they were able to take that flight was the fact that they were able to pack their bags with magic. From what she remembered her parents had taken a week to make sure that they had everything. The two magicals had simply waved their wands and ten minutes later everything had been fitted into a pair of suitcases.

Their tickets had been surprisingly expensive, even if Harry had completely waved the cost away. When they got to the airport Hermione discovered the reason: they had been booked into the business class since those had been the only seats that were left open. After reassuring Harry that the fact that they wouldn't be able to tell anyone what their 'business' was didn't matter he didn't seem to have any problem with their seating though and Hermione didn't feel comfortable telling him what to do with his money. _Besides, I was the one who pushed for us to go as soon as possible._

The two were led to a comfortable lounge where they could enjoy some pre-flight refreshments. Harry was looking around him in awe with every step he took and Hermione noticed that he was pressing every button he thought he could get away with, just to see what they did. This rather childish behaviour only filled her with a sense of fond indulgence. Harry had clearly never been in an airport before and his journey of discovery was pulling Hermione along with it.

The button pushing got a lot worse when they were finally seated. Harry was absolutely fascinated with the entertainment options available to him and was eagerly pointing them out to her. Hermione for her part was just happy that he was doing it in a slightly hushed voice so that they wouldn't draw attention from the other passengers. She wasn't sure how she would explain that he didn't have the faintest idea what some of the most popular films of the past decade were despite clearly being happy enough to scroll through them here.

Once they had gotten comfortable a flight attendant stopped by with two flutes of champagne. Hermione had accepted hers reluctantly and resolved that she would simply hand it back when the girl came by again. Harry had different ideas. He picked up his glass and held it up to Hermione.

"To a safe flight and a good beginning of our quest." he beamed at her. Despite herself Hermione smiled back and brought her glass up to tap against his. She took a small sip and sighed in contentment as she tasted the most delicious champagne she had ever had. _I doubt I would have liked it half as well if I wasn't sharing it in a toast with Harry at the start of a new adventure._ By the time the flight attendant had come by to collect their glasses before take off Hermione had finished the champagne.

Once in the air Hermione pulled a book from her carry on and settled in to read while Harry watched a few films. They were served dinner somewhere over the Alps and a nightcap over the Danube. Eventually the lights were turned off and it was clearly considered time to sleep for the passengers. When his most recent film ended Harry took off the headphones and smiled at her.

"Don't stay up all night reading, okay? I don't want to know what would happen if Kreacher tried to pop in and take you to bed."

"Prat." Hermione muttered, a little embarrassed that he was perfectly right that the old elf had had to put her to bed more than once because she had fallen asleep on the couch while reading.

"Good night, Hermione." Harry chuckled happily as he pushed his chair into a lying position and did his best to make himself comfortable. It must have worked because his breathing soon evened out. Hermione had meant to keep reading, but for some reason the sight of a sleeping Harry next to her drew her attention like a magnet. She found herself staring at his face, fascinated by how different it seemed to when Harry was awake. His expression was more relaxed than Hermione could remember seeing it for a long time.

She reached over and moved a strand of hair out of his eyes so that she could get a better look at him. From there it felt only natural to pull the blanket the airline had provided up over him a little better. She was leaning over him before she realised that her body intended to kiss him goodnight like she had the night before. A short but furious internal debate ended with her lips landing on his forehead. Deciding that she wasn't going to get any more reading done anyway Hermione placed her book in the seat-back pocket in front of her and flattened out her own chair.

She woke up a few hours later to the discovery that her body had moved in her sleep. She found herself lying with her head on Harry's chest and an arm draped up towards his neck. Forcing her panic down with experience born from war Hermione sat up as calmly and carefully as she could. The cabin lights flickered on a moment later and she could see the flight attendants in the galley getting breakfast ready. One of them noticed her looking and came over with a smile.

"Would you like something to drink?" the woman asked quietly, apparently taking care not to wake Harry.

"A cup of tea if it's not too much trouble."

"Of course." The flight attendant disappeared for a moment and when she came back she was holding a steaming cup on a saucer. "There you are. Just give us a wave when your husband wakes up. Better than the pillows on a long flight, aren't they?" The last was said with a cheeky wink. Hermione's first instinct was to protest that Harry wasn't her husband, but the fact that he was was at least part of the reason for this trip. By the time she had made sense of her own tangling thoughts, the flight attendant had already returned to the galley. Seeing them come out with a small cart and not wanting Harry to miss a meal Hermione reached over and shook his shoulder. Harry's eyes blinked open and he looked around in confusion. Hermione gently placed his glasses on his face and received a grateful smile.

"You know, I slept a lot better than I thought I would." Harry said as he put his seat back into the upright position. "Uncle Vernon was always complaining about how badly he slept on the plane if they took a night flight. Of course he complained about the food and the service as well." Hermione decided not to point out the many differences between Harry Potter flying business class and Vernon Dursley on a classless holiday to the sun.

"Well, lucky you that breakfast is about to be served and prove him wrong again, hmm?"

"Luck has very little to do with it when you're sitting next to me." Harry grinned in response. The flight attendant who served them breakfast was thankfully a different one from the one who had come to give Hermione her cup of tea, but judging from the knowing smile on her face they were all aware of how she had fallen asleep the night before. Hermione could only hope that they would keep quiet on the matter within earshot of Harry as she didn't have the faintest idea of how she would explain to him that she had been using him as a pillow after all the effort they had put into not being overly marital with each other.

Luckily the flight attendants were content to stick to their knowing smiles for the rest of the flight, though it was clearly starting to worry Harry who confided to Hermione that he was feeling left out of a joke. She couldn't bring herself to explain what had happened and settled for simply nodding. It felt like a relief to get away from those smiles after the plane had landed at Adelaide Airport, all the more so because all of the crew insisted that they would love to have the two of them back any time.

"Well, that was odd." Harry muttered out of the side of his mouth as they walked across the tarmac.

"At least they weren't being cruel." Hermione defended the flight attendants a bit guiltily. Harry shrugged, his attention already being captured by the myriad of new things he saw around them.

After they claimed their luggage, Harry and Hermione took a cab to a four star hotel in the centre of Adelaide. From there they would begin their search for Healer Warren Snowdon. After a twenty-one hour flight their first priority was a shower and a good night's sleep though.

:-:-:-:-:

Harry and Hermione walked into St. Agatha's Hospital in Adelaide and stepped up to the reception desk.

"Excuse me, we are here to see Healer Warren Snowdon." Harry told the witch behind the desk.

"Do you have an appointment, sir?" she asked in her nasal accent.

"Yes, for two o'clock."

"Second floor, corridor on the right, third office on your left." the witch said in the same bored tone Hermione remembered from most of the receptionists at St. Mungo's.

"Thank you." he replied politely; more politely than Hermione thought she would have been able to when faced with such disinterested service from a healthcare professional. Her parents would have fired the girl for an attitude like that.

Thinking of her parents reminded Hermione of why they were here. She tightened her grip on the hand Harry was using to gently pull her along to the stairs. She couldn't deny that even though they had left England only two weeks ago she already felt like she was breathing more freely, or she would have been if her chest hadn't been tight with tension. She hadn't believed that there was any possibility whatsoever that her parents would ever recognise her again and now that the possibility was in front of her she was afraid to hope; afraid that if she did allow herself to hope that it would be crushed and that she would fall into an even deeper pit than the one she had found herself in back home.

Harry's hand squeezing hers back in response to the pressure she had applied reminded her that she had at least one person by her side, no matter what. She felt a corner of her mouth quirking up as she considered the idea that the universe had once again rewarded them for running off half-cocked on one of Harry's hare-brained plans. If he hadn't insisted that they should quit their jobs and go off on a 'quest' then she'd still be stuck in a cubicle at the ministry instead of following up on a lead that might lead to curing her parents.

All too soon it seemed, they were standing outside of a closed door with the name of the healer they were looking for stencilled on it in gold lettering. Harry raised his fist to knock and then paused before completing the motion to look at her. Hermione realised that he was asking whether she was ready or whether she wanted a moment to compose herself before they stepped into a meeting that could potentially reshape the rest of their lives. She took a deep breath and gave him a determined nod. Harry knocked sharply on the door and from within a baritone voice called out:

"Enter." Harry opened the door and the two friends stepped into an office that was lined with shelves upon shelves of books. Hermione felt her breath catch in her throat as she looked around at the wealth of knowledge sitting just out of arm's reach. In front of them sat a large desk, covered in unsteady piles of parchment and littered with empty coffee mugs. From behind the desk they were being observed through a pair of wire-frame glasses by a man who reminded Hermione strongly of her father. The two were probably of a similar age judging by the streaks of grey in the healer's hair and her father could pull off that 'diagnosing' look just as unsettlingly well. "Are you my two o'clock?"

"We are." Hermione was more than prepared to let Harry take the lead today. She wasn't sure what her voice would sound like if she spoke, or if she would even be able to speak with how tight her throat felt. "My name is Harry Potter and this is Hermione Granger." Hermione saw the healer blink in surprise at hearing such famous names.

"And what has brought you halfway around the world to speak with me?"

"Friends of ours told us that you are researching ways to heal mental damage and that one of the avenues you are pursuing is undoing Memory Charms. Is that correct?"

"It is." the healer agreed cautiously.

"Would you mind telling us a little bit about your research into that area so far?"

"I theorised that if we are to understand thaumomental trauma that it would be best to start with what is generally considered a relatively benign form: Memory Charms. If we consider that the sealing away of memories is essentially a type of brain damage, then we could extrapolate from experiments done in that area. That is rather the point though: my research 'so far' is theoretical, so if you are hoping that I know the secret to undoing Memory Charms then I am afraid you've come in vain." Snowdon said bluntly. Hermione felt the fragile hope that she had been trying so hard to ignore die a painful death in her chest. Her shoulders hunched as she tried to curl into a ball and hide away from this latest blow, but Harry holding onto her hand made the move feel strangely interrupted.

"And what theories did you come up with?" Harry asked, sounding completely undaunted by the warning he had just received. "I know that it's possible to break through a Memory Charm with Legillimency if you're not too worried about what state your victim will be in when you're done, but I was wondering if you had discovered another method?" Hermione saw the healer's jaw drop open in surprise.

"You actually witnessed this?"

"Indirectly."

"That… that would be a breakthrough of indescribable proportions… what were the symptoms after the treatment?" The excitement of an academic rang clear as a bell in that question.

"The woman was basically turned into a vegetable and I'm led to believe that that may have been the result of the torturous pain that she was subjected to as the Charm was being broken."

"Strange. There shouldn't be any pain if the procedure is applied properly." Snowdon mused. "Mind Healers are generally skilled Legillimens and should be able to withdraw before they do too much damage."

"Yeah, well, this was a Dark Lord, not a healer." Harry retorted tersely. Understanding lit up in Snowdon's face.

"Then I believe that I owe you a deep debt of gratitude, Mr. Potter, Ms. Granger. Knowing this I can advance our knowledge of mental trauma by decades. It will take time to set up an appropriate experiment to prove this effect under… less traumatising and more controlled conditions, but if what you've said is true then I am sure that we may just have found a way to unlock blocked memories. The implications are massive…" Snowdon trailed off, his eyes glassy with the intoxicating possibilities of new discovery.

"Is there anything we can do to expedite your setting up of this experiment?" Harry asked.

"Well, if you would be willing, then it would probably help my chances if you were to speak with me at a grant hearing so that I could get the funding more quickly. Your name would also help me find volunteers whom we could obliviate and then cure." Hermione knew what Harry's response was going to be before he had even opened his mouth.

"I'll volunteer. How much money do you need?"

"Um, well… thank you very much, but are you sure you understand the risks?"

"It will be fine." Harry waved the man off. "The cost?"

"Oh. Right. I think we'll need around 5000 galleons to run the project." Hermione could see that the healer was mostly musing out loud to himself as he calculated. "Yes, 5000 should be an acceptable budget." Hermione had half expected Harry to just give the man the money there and then and was surprised to find him looking at her for approval.

"It's your money, Harry." she told him quietly. She couldn't help but notice that there was a slight tremor in her voice.

"Actually, it's _our_ money." Harry corrected her. "Equal partners in everything, remember?" She resisted the urge to groan out loud as Harry threw her words back in her face. The smug grin on his face told her he knew exactly what he was doing and was looking forward to seeing how she was going to react.

"Fine." she muttered. "I think you know what I'll choose anyway."

"I could venture a guess, but it's good to check these things." Harry told her with a wink as his grin grew just a little wider. "We'll give you the five thousand if you can get started right away." he told Snowdon who was looking at them like they had just turned into dragons and calmly started discussing the merits of different spices in roasting medieval towns.

"What-... but-... are you sure?" the man stammered out.

"We are."

"Can-... can I just ask you one question?" Hermione noticed that the man sounded every bit as deferential as any muggle researcher to their funder.

"Of course."

"Why are you doing this? Whose memory are you hoping to restore?" Hermione could feel Harry's gaze on her without even looking to see where his eyes were. He was going to leave the decision of whether they told Snowdon this up to her.

"My parents." she eventually admitted. "I removed their memories of me to protect them from the Death Eaters during the war." Snowdon preformed a familiar flinch and his eyes filled with a familiar fear that Hermione had come to expect of people she told about her actions. The only person who hadn't reacted like that was Harry.

"Ahem, yes… I- I can certainly see why you would be driven to invest." Snowdon mumbled as he tried to move them past the awkwardness they suddenly found themselves in.

"If you have your funding and your first volunteer, how long before you can start your actual tests?" Harry asked, apparently deciding that simply ignoring the mood would make it go away.

"Give me a week to set up the proper parameters." Snowdon decided after a moment's thought. "I'll need a method of data collection that I can apply across the different observations."

"Perhaps we could schedule an appointment for ten days from now then? The same time and place perhaps?"

"Of course!"

"Excellent. We'll leave you to your work, Healer Snowdon. We'll head straight to the bank from here, so expect the gold to be in your vault by the end of the day.

"Thank you, Mr. Potter. I realise that you have your own reasons for helping me, but you really are making a massive contribution to the field of thaumomental health." Snowdon gushed as he bowed them out of the door. Hermione mostly let Harry handle the goodbyes. She could no longer quite deny that she was beginning to hope that one day soon she would be able to talk to her parents again and have them know who she was. The idea that she might have their support just made the future seem that much brighter.

After a quick visit to the bank to make the promised transfer, Harry and Hermione returned to their hotel. They didn't speak much until they made it up to their room. When they got there, Harry guided Hermione to sit in one of the chairs and crouched down in front of her. She immediately knew that he had something to say that he didn't think she was going to like.

"Hermione, there's one more thing I want to discuss about the experiment we're having Snowdon perform."

"Don't worry, Harry. I know that there is no guarantee that he will find a way to remove the Memory Charms on my parents. I won't say that it wouldn't be a blow, but I know that the possibility of failure exists."

"That's… good, I suppose. I wanted to talk to you about something else though."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. Snowdon mentioned that the test subjects are going to be Obliviated. I want you to perform the Obliviation on me." Hermione felt like someone had poured a cup of ice water down her spine. She was already shaking her head when Harry's hands came up to gently cup her face. "I know that you don't like using that spell, Hermione. I _know_ that. If you are the one to cast it on me though, we'll be getting as close as we can to the situation your parents are in. If Snowdon's theories pan out then we'll be as sure as we can be that we'll be able to use the same methods to bring your parents back."

"And if it doesn't work?" Hermione demanded shrilly. "What if I remove part of your memories permanently?"

"If you just avoid removing yourself, the rest of my family and all of my magical knowledge from my memories then I'm willing to take the risk." Harry told her with a sad smile. "Besides, I think this could be cathartic for you when my memories _do_ come back."

"I'm just not so sure, Harry."

"If you really don't want to do it then we'll let Snowdon perform the obliviation." Harry assured her.

"I-... let me think it over."

"Of course."

:-:-:-:-:

Ten days later Harry and Hermione were making their way back to Healer Snowdon's office for their second meeting with the man. Hermione still hadn't made up her mind about whether she was going to consent to being the one to cast that hateful spell at Harry despite the fact that she knew that time was running out for her to make a decision.

Before she knew it Harry was already knocking on that door again and Healer Snowdon was opening it.

"Welcome. Welcome, both of you." the healer greeted them. "I must admit that I had thought you were pulling my leg, but the gold was deposited into my account just like you had promised. I have the procedure for our experiment written up here, if you'd like to give it a once over."

"Hermione?" Harry looked at her expectantly.

"Why are you asking me?"

"Because you would actually understand the implications, while this kind of write up would be wasted on me. Would you like to look it over or are we just going to get started?" The way Harry phrased that made it sound like this was Hermione's last chance to delay her inevitable decision.

Upon reading the set up Hermione realised that the healer wouldn't be casting the spell on the participants himself so that he wouldn't be tempted to just look for his own magic when scanning his patients' minds. _That means that either I will cast the Memory Charm on Harry or someone else will; someone who might not be a healer._ Abruptly Hermione had made her decision. She didn't like the idea of casting that spell ever again, but having someone else cast it on Harry was an even worse prospect.

"Hermione? Any comments?"

"I'll do it." Hermione said determinedly even though her throat felt dry as sandpaper.

"You'll do what, Ms. Granger? Are you volunteering as well?"

"I'll cast the charm on Harry." The healer looked like he might comment for a moment before nodding slowly.

"I think I can see why you would want to do things that way. Are you prepared to begin right away?"

"I think that would be best." Harry agreed.

"A-alright." was Hermione's contribution. She drew her wand in preparation to cast the spell and could have sworn that she could feel her wand trembling in her hand. Part of Hermione's mind raced to point out that technically she couldn't feel the wand trembling at all as it didn't have any muscles or tendons with which to tremble. Another part informed her that this explanation and the amount of energy she was expending on it was a coping mechanism. She was feeling almost physically ill with the idea that she was about to turn her wand on the one person in the world who had stood by her through anything and everything and cast the spell on him that had cost her her parents.

"Are you ready, Ms. Granger?" Snowdon asked. Her head nodded without her permission. She felt like she was watching herself in a movie from the back of her consciousness as Harry came up to her and wrapped his arms around her.

"Don't worry, Hermione. This is going to go fine." he murmured in her ear. "No matter what you make me forget, I'm still going to be here for you." Hermione tried to pull him as close as she could, not nearly as convinced of his statement as he was. When she let him go, Harry cupped her cheek with one hand and gave her a reassuring smile before turning to sit in a large comfortable chair.

"Whenever you're ready, Ms. Granger." she heard Snowdon say from somewhere off to the side. Hermione's eyes were locked onto that warm, familiar green as Harry looked back at her encouragingly. _If I'm going to do this then I will at least be removing some uncomfortable memories… just in case._ She leveled her wand at Harry and it seemed to be trembling more than before. In her mind she called up the memories she wanted to seal away; the only memories that kept pushing their way to the forefront of her mind when she considered the term 'uncomfortable'.

" _Obliviate_." She knew that the spell had struck home when Harry stiffened for a moment before collapsing into unconsciousness.

"Mr. Potter!" Snowdon darted forward to check Harry over. Hermione felt like she was frozen in place. In her mind's eye she could see her parents keeling over in the same way as a result of the same spell. _Please keep your promise, Harry. Please don't let me have just lost my best friend on top of everything else._ "He seems to be fine." she heard Snowdon breathe out in relief. "What exactly did you remove from his memory, Ms. Granger?" It took Hermione a while to find the words.

"The fact that we are married." she eventually admitted. Unable to face the healer's gobsmacked expression Hermione waved her wand at the chair Harry was sitting in and transfigured it gradually into a comfortable futon. She levitated another chair over and sat down in it where she could hold Harry's hand until he woke up again.

"Why would you make your husband forget your marriage?" Snowdon asked in confusion. The fear she had heard in his voice after he realised that she had removed her parents memories of herself was even clearer. Taking a moment to order her thoughts, Hermione began to speak. She explained to the healer what had happened during the war, at her wedding and since. She also tried to explain why she had chosen to remove those particular memories. After she stopped talking silence fell over the little office and the only sound she was aware of was the steady in and out of Harry's breath.

"I think you may have made a mistake, Mrs. Potter." Snowdon's voice eventually broke the silence. "Those memories may not have been the most pleasant, but from seeing the two of you together I doubt he would have given them up voluntarily either. At this point I can only assure you that I will be doing my absolute best to return them to your husband." Having said his piece, the healer stood up and left the office. As the door closed behind him, Hermione realised that she hadn't corrected his use of her married name any more than the flight attendants. _Looks like I'm starting to get used to it at least_. Looking at Harry's unconscious form she just couldn't bring herself to consider that the most important thing right now. _Please come back to me, Harry._ An hour after Hermione cast her spell, Harry woke up. He was clearly disoriented as he looked around.

"Hermione? Where are we? What's going on?"

"We're in a healer's office in the magical hospital in Adelaide, in Australia." Hermione told him gently.

"I really mucked up if I don't remember how I got here, huh?" Harry asked her ruefully.

"You did wonderfully, Harry." she disagreed. "You just got obliviated as part of an experiment on undoing Memory Charms. That's why you're feeling so out of sorts."

"Does this have something to do with you sending your parents away during the war?" Harry asked, his brow furrowed as he tried to remember things she had hidden away from him, maybe for ever.

"Yes, it does." she admitted guiltily.

"Well, then at least this is for a good cause." Harry decided relaxing slightly. "So, what do we do next?" Hermione just grabbed him in a hug next as she wondered what she had done to earn such unwavering loyalty from her friend.

:-:-:-:-:

The morning after Hermione's obliviation Harry began his sessions with Healer Snowdon to try and reverse the magic affecting his mind. As they worked Hermione was given free reign of the healer's collection of books. For the first session she joined the discussion Harry and the healer had about what was going to happen.

"The plan is relatively simple, Mr. Potter. If I'm right then the memories are… folded for lack of a better term, so that you cannot access them. I will be using Legilimency to search for irregularities that might indicate such a folding. If I find that then I will be trying different methods to undo the folding. What I need from you is to not block me using Occlumency and to be honest with me about what you experience during our sessions. The more detailed you are, the better we will be able to help other patients in the future."

Harry was uncomfortably reminded of the many, _many_ , times Madam Pomfrey had given him a similar admonishment. On the other hand, if this was going to be for the sake of Hermione's parents then he would do whatever he could. He knew that if there was a chance for him to regain his parents she would stop at nothing to help him either and that would have been enough of a reason for him to give this his all even if she hadn't helped him survive the war against Voldemort.

"Alright, let's get started." Harry said firmly. Drawing this out wouldn't help anyone. The healer agreed and Hermione stood up to find an interesting book and curl up in a corner with it.

The first thing Harry noticed about Healer Snowdon's legillimency was that it was a lot less stressful to deal with than Snape's or Voldemort's. He was aware of the man's presence in his mind, but he could also feel that this presence meant him no harm; a significant turn around from the previous times he had faced a legillimency probe. It was difficult to keep track of time while the healer rummaged through his thoughts and memories, but when the session ended Harry could see that Hermione had gotten about halfway through her book. Even with her reading speed that indicated a significant amount of time.

The next few sessions turned out to be more or less the same. Harry would get probed by Healer Snowdon and Hermione made rapid progress through the man's library. It wasn't until a month into the experiment that they made the first breakthrough. During what was starting to become a routine legillimency probe, a description that Harry had never expected he would attach to that particular feat of magic, both Harry and Healer Snowdon started upright as they felt… _something_. There was something in Harry's mind that was not like the rest of it. The shock of encountering it had jerked them both out of the mental connection though.

"That was it! I'm sure that was it!" the healer cheered. "Quickly, we need to resume the experiment so that I can study that sensation more carefully."

"Just a moment, Healer." Harry cautioned as he threw his occlumency barriers up. "We need to discuss something before you become too excited by what we just found."

"What on earth could be that important." Snowdon asked in exasperation.

"During the war we discovered that Voldemort had a connection with my mind. I won't go into detail about what it was since we're trying to stamp out all mentions of that particular evil, but I want you to be careful when examining something out of the ordinary in my mind if you're not sure what it is."

"That is a warning that I should have liked before we got started." the healer muttered.

"Sorry. I didn't really think about it until I felt something weird in my head again." Harry apologised honestly.

"You felt it?"

"I did. I don't _think_ that this is an imprint or a remnant of what Voldemort did, but I wanted to warn you all the same. I wasn't always equally successful in determining what was real and what wasn't when it came to that connection."

"It should be alright, Harry. You went to frighteningly drastic lengths to get rid of that thing." Hermione interjected sadly.

"True. Two years before that I would never have guessed that such magic even existed though, so let's err on the side of caution. We don't really know everything about the aftereffects it could have had." Hermione inclined her head to acknowledge the point.

"Very well, your warning is noted. I would still very much like to try and find that anomaly again nonetheless."

"Alright." Harry agreed as he lowered his defences.

"I would appreciate if you tried to recapture the feelings you had when you felt something change." Snowdon instructed. A moment later Harry felt the healer's presence return to his mind.

:-:-:-:-:

It took them another week of sessions to get that feeling back again. After that they became more and more proficient at locating it. Snowdon's own caution meant that they didn't attempt to 'unfold' any of the hidden memories just yet. Together he and Harry simply worked on finding and recognising the sensation until they were sure that there were several different points in Harry's memories that had been obscured by Hermione's spell.

"How do you know all of those points are due to Hermione's spell?" Harry asked a little nervously the first time Snowdon had casually mentioned that as a fact.

"Context. Ms. Granger has already confided in me which memories she was focused on when she cast her spell. For the sake of the integrity of the experiment I cannot tell you which those are." Harry couldn't help looking over at Hermione and was shocked to see her looking pale as death with her eyes widened by horror.

"I think that we should call a halt to the session for today, Healer Snowdon." Harry said politely as he got up.

"But we could make more progress yet." the healer protested.

"Maybe, but I think that I should get Hermione home. We really haven't spent a lot of time together, just the two of us, since this whole thing started. I have just remembered that fact and intend to rectify the oversight immediately.

"You don't have to worry about me, Harry." Hermione tried.

"Nonsense. I could do with a half-day holiday anyway." Harry grinned at her, holding out a hand for her to take. Hesitantly, Hermione put her book down and took the hand, allowing Harry to help her out of her chair. He saw her look behind him nervously and found Snowdon giving them a considering look.

"I believe that you may be right after all, Mr. Potter. Some time spent together with Ms. Granger shouldn't negatively impact what we're doing. I will see the two of you tomorrow morning."

"Excellent. See you then." Harry agreed as he guided a still reluctant Hermione out of the office. They left the hospital and apparated to the flat they had rented together when it had become clear that they were going to be staying here long enough to make a hotel an impractical long-term solution. Once they were home Harry simply made them some tapas and opened a bottle of wine that they could share out on their balcony in the warm spring afternoon. Hermione was watching him warily as if expecting him to start questioning her at any moment. That was the whole reason Harry had decided not to take that approach. He hated getting grilled like that himself and wasn't about to do it to someone else. Instead he tried to get Hermione to calm down a little first by simply being a pair of friends enjoying the sunshine. Hermione wasn't going to let him dictate the terms of their conversation though. When he set a glass of wine down in front of her she gave him a resolute look.

"Harry, will you please stop dancing around the issue and ask me the damn question already?"

"I'm still working on what that question actually is, Hermione. I already knew that you had cast a Memory Charm on me so that shouldn't be causing you this much distress. What I don't know is where I would even begin to understand what is causing this level of reaction. I was hoping that a bit of conversation would help me figure out what it is I'm trying to ask you." he told her. "Unless you'd like to save me the trouble?" Hermione was quiet for a moment before she took a large, fortifying gulp of her wine.

"I-... I don't want you to hate me when you find out what it is that I hid from you; what I'm still hiding from you." she admitted, refusing to look at Harry.

"Then I promise I won't hate you."

"You can't promise that."

"Of course I can. I have a whole mess of memories of you that you didn't touch and they tell me that I'm looking at my best friend and the most important person in my life." Hermione had started crying after that pronunciation and Harry had only been able to hold her through it as he tried to figure out what it was that he had said to set her off. When he asked her about it, Hermione refused to answer his questions. Harry decided that he would simply have to find ways to reassure her throughout the day that he didn't hold a grudge for something he was pretty sure he had agreed to in the first place.

:-:-:-:-:

"I think we're ready to start unfolding one of your memories, Mr. Potter. I believe that over the past few weeks I've begun to sense a variance in the… foldedness, for lack of a better word, of the anomalies. I'm going to pull two candidates up and would like your input on which one we should start with."

"Alright." Harry calmed his emotions with a simple breathing exercise and waited for Snowdon's presence to appear in his mind. When he did it was first accompanied by a vague unease, a sense that something was wrong somewhere, somehow. That feeling soon morphed into knowing that the word you were looking for was on the tip of your tongue and that you would be able to speak it if you reached just a little further. "That second one. It feels a lot more defined. I think we should start there."

"That was my instinct as well." Snowdon agreed with a thoughtful nod. "Are you prepared?"

"Ready as I'll ever be." Not knowing the word on the tip of his tongue was joined by a sensation that Harry could best liken to being lightly tickled. The tickle slowly turned to an itch and finally a sensation that was more like a rug burn. Harry gritted his teeth and simply weathered the feeling that was edging into serious pain. He was just about to release the scream that he could no longer bite back when the feeling stopped and a strange feeling of warmth rushed through his mind before spilling out over his entire body.

"Harry!" A pair of gentle arms wrapped around him and Harry realised that he was panting heavily. "Harry, what happened?!"

"Warm." he croaked out.

"Warm?!" Hermione's tone was shrill with worry. "I look up from my book to say your face twisted with the kind of pain that would have a normal person screaming for help and all you can say is 'warm'?!"

"It wasn't so bad at first. Then it hurt. Then… warmth." Harry knew he wasn't making a lot of sense, but he was still sorting through the sensations and trying to find what they meant. When he lifted his head up he was met with Hermione's eyes a lot closer to his face than he had expected them to be. Oddly, instead of flinching, he felt that same warmth rush through him again.

"Mr. Potter? My diagnostics show that your nerves were activated to a point of extreme pain during the procedure." Snowdon's voice was as clinical as only a healer could make it. "Next time I will need you to let me know as soon as you feel any level of discomfort. The point of this research isn't to see where your pain threshold lies, but to develop a technique that we could use on the wider population. Would you want Mr. and Mrs. Granger to experience what you just did?"

"... no."

"Well then, stop me before we get this far in the future. For now I would like you to go home. We will discuss whether your first impressions have changed when you return for your next appointment."

"Alright. See you tomorrow then." Harry called out as he was dragged from the office in a huff by Hermione. Sensing her mood, Harry didn't bother trying to apparate himself and simply endured the side-along to their flat. He was pushed down onto the couch and kept himself still there as Hermione left the room without saying a word. _She's definitely upset. What can I do about it though?_

Hermione re-entered the room carrying a blanket and a pillow Harry felt that wave of warmth from the healer's office wash over him again. Checking his occlumency while Hermione tucked the pillow under his head and draped the blanket over him didn't reveal any changes.

"I want you to rest for the remainder of the day, Harry." Hermione demanded once she had arranged everything to her satisfaction. "I would prefer it even more if you would stop treating your health as an afterthought, but since that doesn't seem likely to happen any time soon, I'll settle for you keeping that bonehead of yours on that pillow for now."

"Yes, Hermione." _Definitely upset. Better do as she says for now._

For the rest of the evening Harry kept his senses peeled for any more appearances of that strange warmth and soon came to the conclusion that it showed up to a greater or lesser degree whenever he found himself looking at his best friend.

:-:-:-:-:

Slowly, bit by bit, Harry felt like he was becoming more aware of the fact that there was something he was missing. He still didn't understand enough about it to know what it was, but a few things had become clear to him.

Whatever memory Hermione's charm had affected definitely had something to do with her. He knew that the aftermath had resulted in the two of them feeling ostracised at the Ministry and that this quest to find a way to reverse a Memory Charm was a direct result of that feeling. More and more Harry was also getting the feeling that the memory wasn't entirely negative though. The results might not have been as good as they could have been, but whenever he got close to the memory itself he was filled with a happy contentment that he was utterly unable to put into words. When he had mentioned it to Snowdon, during a moment when Hermione had left the office for a quick trip to the loo so that she wouldn't have to be embarrassed listening to him describe how he had taken to looking at her, the healer had nodded in thoughtful understanding. Harry wasn't able to shake the feeling that the man's eyes had also looked a bit sad.

Another conclusion Harry had come to after thinking things through for a little bit was that the memory must have something to do with Ron. The fact that his other best friend wasn't with them was strange to say the least considering that they were apparently working to heal his future in-laws. Once he had noticed that he also noticed that Hermione never mentioned the redhead's name. The Weasley's as a whole seemed to have become a topic they avoided. The only explanation that made any sense to Harry was that the memory also had something to do with Ron and Hermione's engagement ending and that it had not been a happy end.

Harry hadn't mentioned any of this to Hermione. He had come close several times, but he just couldn't find the words to talk to her about this without sounding like an idiot. Added on to that was the problem that he knew that _she_ knew what the memory was and probably why it was affecting him the way that it was. Talking to her about it might well do something to damage the experiment and in the end he had chosen to let sleeping dogs lie.

The sessions had been going for nearly half a year now and the closer it got to December the warmer it got; a thoroughly confusing state of affairs for the two Brits. Harry was glad that they were making progress, but hadn't put up even a token resistance when Snowdon had suggested a break for Christmas. As a result he was now sitting in the office for the last time before the new year.

"Before you leave here, Mr. Potter, I thought it might be good to have a quick review of how far we've come. I'm not sure if you realise just how revolutionary our work is proving to be. There currently 17 people aside from yourself participating in this experiment and, while none of them have been quite as attuned to their minds as you have proven to be, there has been a significant decrease in the foldedness of their obliviated memories. None have fully recovered the memories that have been hidden from them, but all have seen distinct progress. I believe that in the new year we will see the first participants regain their memories fully." Snowdon's voice was brimming with excitement about the progress they were making.

"That is good to hear." Harry smiled, meaning every word.

"It's all thanks to the two of you." the healer demured. "Without your support I wouldn't have been able to find the funding in the next ten years, nor would I have had such success in recruiting volunteers to take part."

"I'm sure it would only have been a matter of time, Healer Snowdon. Besides, we're getting something out of this as well." Harry disagreed affably. The healer opened his mouth as if he was planning to argue the point before closing it and shaking his head.

"Either way, the benefits to future generations promise to be significant." the man said in the tone of someone proposing a compromise. "Aside from that I just wanted to wish the pair of you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I'll see you on the second." Harry and Hermione echoed the healer's sentiments and left the office. Every step that brought them closer to the apparation point made Harry feel more and more giddy. He couldn't wait to get home and put up the Christmas tree. After having been denied real Christmas celebrations with the Dursleys he tended to go overboard now that he was free to do as he liked. As soon as they had landed Harry was pushing Hermione towards the door.

"Harry, what on earth are you rushing for like that?" she asked in confusion.

"We need to go buy a Christmas tree! And decorations!" Harry's glee bubbled out of him with very little input from himself.

"Oh. Right. Christmas."

"Hermione? Are you alright?" Harry's enthusiasm cleared off to make way for concern at Hermione's tone.

"Of course. Come on. We should go." He followed her out of the door with a new realisation as an early Christmas present. The memory might well have something to do with Christmas. _Did something happen at Christmas at some point?_ Once again Harry felt that familiar feeling of having a word on the tip of his tongue. He had started to associate that with getting close to a hidden memory. _I haven't been able to push through that feeling yet, but maybe I can figure it out a bit if I keep my eyes and ears open. I should be able to identify what feels most relevant if I pay attention._

They did their shopping with Harry watching Hermione's every move for a chance to figure out what he was missing. Aside from the fact that her holiday cheer looked forced at best, Harry couldn't really detect anything unusual. They bought a tree and decorations that were a mix of muggle and magical, ingredients for Harry to bake them some Christmas goodies with and Christmas cards for those left back in England. Throughout it all Hermione smiled with pain hiding in her eyes. By the time they got home the mood was starting to affect Harry as well. When Hermione muttered something that was obviously just an excuse, even if Harry couldn't make out the specifics, he was struck with a terrible feeling of _dé ja vu_.

Following the feeling, he made his way to his own room and sat down on his bed glumly. An image flashed through his mind of a picture in his hands and a wish that the scene it showed could come back. The image and the feeling were gone as soon as they had come, but Harry knew what it meant: the foldedness of his hidden memories was weakening to the point where he was breaking through.

Several more flashes followed as they got closer to Christmas. Putting up the decorations Harry was abruptly sure that they were putting up more than they had the year before. Walking down a sunny street with Hermione he had taken her hand to get her attention and seen them standing in snowy country lane that could only have been somewhere in England. Looking through some of the photos they had brought along for when they would finally be able to explain things to Hermione's parents, Harry found a snapshot of Hermione at one of the balls the Ministry had thrown to celebrate the end of the war. The way Hermione was made up and the clearly expensive dress robes she caused him to imagine her in a white dress with her face made up in a similar way. Harry's thought that the heavy makeup didn't suit her also felt familiar somehow.

As these experiences piled up Harry felt more and more frustrated that he couldn't put them together to find the memory that was teasing him just beyond his reach. He knew that some of that was down to the magic of Hermione's charm actively doing its best to keep him from remembering, but with the flashes he knew it was only a matter of time before the magic failed.

In the end the inevitable happened when Harry and Hermione were walking through the Adelaide Central Market. They weren't really looking for anything in particular, but rather just enjoying the atmosphere among the crowds of happily families doing their Christmas shopping. As walked through the market there was a small group of carollers singing for donations to the Salvation Army. The melody washed over Harry and as he turned to ask Hermione whether they should make a donation he felt what he would later identify as the memory bursting free.

Dizziness swept over him as his mind tried to process the information that his senses were taking in and the memories he was reliving at the same time. Around him thronged thousands of happy muggles while he was standing in an abandoned snowy lane in Godric's Hollow. The summer sun beat down on them as his feet crunched the freshly fallen winter snow. Through it all the song of the Salvation Army volunteers echoed from a small church.

The dizziness quickly became a headache as Harry became lost in reliving what had happened at Christmas six years earlier. He saw the wedding that had taken place between James and Jane Claybaker. He saw the way it had destroyed the wedding Hermione had chosen. He saw the effect it had on their lives once it came out that they were married and how it had led to them searching out Healer Snowdon.

Slowly the memories receded and the present began to come back into focus. Harry discovered that during the release of his memories he had lost control of his body and was now lying on the ground in Hermione's arms in the midst of a circle of concerned onlookers.

"Harry! Harry, please answer me! Please!" Hermione sounded like she was in a full-blown panic so Harry expected that he had been lying there for a while now.

"I'm okay." he whispered out. Hermione's eyes locked onto his with an almost frightening intensity and for the first time in months Harry knew why she was so worried about anything that seemed to suggest he might disappear from her life. After the fiasco at her wedding and sending her parents away to protect them she was understandably worried that the last close personal relationship she had would disappear too. What Harry was not prepared for was the wave of tender concern that swept through him as he looked into Hermione's eyes. His hand came up to cup her cheek before he could think about it. "I'm okay." he repeated.

"You don't know that, Harry. We need to get you to the hospital to get you checked over." Harry considered arguing, but didn't think that he could tell Hermione what was going on in front of quite this many witnesses.

"Okay. Help me up." Hermione didn't waste anytime pulling his arm over her shoulder and heaving him up. She led them away from the market and the morbidly curious looks that followed them as quickly as she seemed to think Harry could safely go. When they finally made it to an out of sight alleyway they ducked inside and Hermione apparated them both to St Agatha's. They had become such a familiar sight at the magical hospital that no one bothered to stop them as they made their way up to Healer Snowdon's office. Hermione pulled Harry through the door of the office as she began rattling off what had happened to the healer.

"Healer Snowdon! Harry just collapsed in the middle of the-... where is he?"

"Home for the Christmas hols I would imagine." Harry replied as he closed the doors of the empty office behind them.

"Couldn't you have said something sooner?" Hermione demanded, her voice carrying a good deal of embarrassment with it. "We could have gone straight to a healer who can help us."

"Actually, I think this may be a good thing. I need to talk to you."

"What on earth could you want to talk about that could be anywhere near as important as getting you checked by a healer?"

"I know that we're technically married. I remember all of it." As Harry spoke the blood visibly drained from Hermione's face. "That's what happened at the market just now: I finally got my memories back." Hermione was quiet for a long while, her head bowed as she considered this new information. When she looked back up at him it cut at Harry's heart to see so much fear and vulnerability in her eyes.

"Do you hate me now?" she asked in a small, tremulous voice.

"Of course not!" Harry exclaimed as he stepped forward and grabbed Hermione in a reassuring hug. "Like I told Ron: I don't think I have it in me to hate you." As he held her, Harry couldn't help but notice that they fit together perfectly. The way her head fit under his chin, her small shoulders that were so easy to envelope; all of it made him want to protect her and keep any kind of harm away from her. _Well, she_ is _my wife._

Harry froze as that thought flashed through his mind. Now that it had made itself known he couldn't deny that he had had it. Hermione noticed the way he had gone rigid and pulled back slightly to shoot him a concerned look.

"What's wrong, Harry?"

"Nothing..." Even Harry couldn't claim that he thought he sounded convincing. Hermione's eyes narrowing in anger told him she agreed.

"Damn it, Harry, I knew I should have pulled you to a healer by your ear the moment we realised Healer Snowdon wasn't here."

"It's not something that needs healing." Harry protested as he desperately tried to figure out what he was going to do about this situation. He couldn't very well tell Hermione that he was _happy_ that she was his wife of all things; not now that he could remember how difficult it had been for her to go through all the consequences of this marriage. "I-... the memories are just putting some things in perspective and it caught me off guard for a moment. At least I've finally figured out why we didn't buy the Weasleys any presents." Harry felt like scum when Hermione wilted in front of him. He pulled her into another tentative hug, resisting the urge to cheer when he felt her trying to burrow into his chest.

"Sorry, Harry. I should have realised that this would be confusing for you."

"Hey, no apologies. If you want a silver lining at least remember that this means that we have a way to bring back your parents' memories."

"But, Harry, how are we going to convince my parents to sit in a room with us for a few months while we pick through their minds in an effort to restore memories that magic has hidden? I don't know where we would even begin to look for anything resembling an excuse for that."

"I have an idea, actually." Harry offered tentatively, hoping that Hermione wouldn't be opposed to what he was about to suggest. "If we follow them under my dad's cloak for a few days before we 'officially' appear and move in then we should be able to get a feel for their daily routine." Hermione was already starting to look upset so Harry explained his reasoning as quickly as he could. "If we can find a place where they like to sit for a while we might be able to use that to get a few hours in. It would also give us some common ground with them which would help in establishing a relationship. If we can get closer to your parents the chance of them putting things together as we weaken the folds should grow." Hermione was quiet for a little while before speaking.

"I don't like how manipulative that sounds."

"The other option is kidnapping them for a few months to work on them. That or doing this the quick and damaging way."

"I know." Hermione grudgingly admitted. "Fine. We'll do it your way, but we're going to do our best to be respectful of their privacy."

"Of course. Think of this as an uncomfortable medical procedure… which it is in a way. We'll do what is necessary as professionally as possible and nothing more."

"Alright then. We're going to have to move to Melbourne to find them."

"I'll let the landlord know that we'll not be renewing our lease at the end of the month then." Harry said gently as he gave Hermione an extra squeeze and carefully stepped on the growing feelings that he had just discovered in an Australian healer's office. "That should give us enough time to pack and do our reconnaissance." _Which solves the easy problem. How on earth am I going to tell Hermione that I think that her being my wife sounds like one of the greatest ideas I ever heard? Never mind all the..._ implications.

* * *

 **AN:** And there's the second installment. Fair warning: I have no idea when I'll be publishing what should be the third and final chapter. As I mentioned in my last AN, I've just started a new job and I simply don't have the rhythm down to the point where I know for sure how much down time I'll have to work on writing fanfics. Hopefully I won't have to keep you waiting too long.

St. Agatha of Sicily is the patron saint of nurses.

Warren Snowdon was Australia's first Minister for Indigenous Health. I like the way his name fits for a healer so he gets to work on a different sort of health here.

Thaumomental trauma = magical brain ouchies (I should really get checked for that).

Snowdon's way of deferring to Harry and Hermione is a rather sad reflection on the way scientists are sometimes forced to work. If you have a demanding sponsor funding your research then your ethics _will be_ tried.

As you can read, Harry and Hermione are not going to suddenly remember that, gee, they were in love this whole time. As we say in The Netherlands though: "what isn't now, may be someday".

As always, thank you for reading.


	3. Chapter 3

Hermione felt like she was twelve again. The heat on her cheeks clearly betrayed her embarrassment at spying on her parents, or it would have if she wasn't hiding under Death's own invisibility cloak. She and Harry had found her parents living in South Yarra, an affluent neighbourhood in Melbourne. Hermione was now watching them as they went to movies and cafes and generally acted more gregarious than she had ever known them to be. She couldn't help asking herself _is this how they would have been if they had never had me? Should I even be forcing my way back into their lives when they look so happy?_

When her parents finally went home for the night, Hermione couldn't help but be relieved. She quickly apparated back to the flat in Adelaide where Harry had a glass of their usual wine waiting on the coffee table. She gave it a longing glance before waving her wand to update the map they had hung on the wall to keep track of where her parents were spending their time. When that was done she wasted no more time picking up the drink and taking a long draught.

"Are you alright?" Hermione could hear the concern in Harry's voice but was still too embarrassed by following her parents around to respond politely; she grunted. "Well, at least we're getting a good idea of where they spend most of their time. I'll stop by the realtor tomorrow and tell them to start looking for a place in the area."

 _Grunt_.

"I know, but it's only for a little bit longer. Soon enough they'll remember you and then you'll be happy we did this."

 _Grunt._ Harry sighed and a moment later Hermione felt a pair of hands on her shoulders as he began to rub the tension out of her muscles. She wanted to stay grumpy for a little while longer, just to vent her discomfort at what they were doing, but those fingers were magical. Hermione even forgot to bite back a moan of pleasure and one of the hands briefly left her shoulder to pluck the wine glass out of her slackening grip. It was back before she could complain though and soon she was nothing more than a purring blob of pleasure on the couch. When Harry lifted his hands away she mewled in protest but was too lethargic to do anything more than that. The cushions indented next to her, indicating that Harry had sat down, and Hermione curled up against him in a blissful daze. She felt a strong arm come around her and give her a comforting squeeze.

Hermione would have happily laid there for the rest of the night, but eventually she was picked up and tucked into a cold bed, her moan of protest serving as precisely no deterrent to the arms that had carried her there. Still filled with a glow of relaxation, it didn't take long for Hermione to fall completely asleep.

She awoke the next morning in rumpled clothes, but feeling more rested than she had in weeks. _I really should do something nice for Harry in return. Maybe I'll just return the favour next time he has a bad day. I don't know a thing about massages though._ Hermione determined that she would visit a bookstore for research material on the subject while Harry was discussing their search for a new living space with the realtor.

:-:-:-:-:

It had been surprisingly easy to find a flat that they could rent with Harry's massive budget. Hermione felt a little pang of guilt every time she thought of that, even if she knew that _technically_ she was a Potter and allowed to access the family fortune.

After they had moved to Melbourne, Harry and Hermione had divided up their tasks when it came to legillimencing her parents. If they were together Harry would target her father and Hermione would target her mother. So far, they had only been able to apply the procedure for a few minutes at a time to total more or less one hour.

Hermione's emotions had calmed down a bit, mostly because they didn't know which way to jump. She was elated that she was finally making real progress towards a goal that had once been considered impossible. On the other hand, she was horrified that she was breaking into her parents' minds without permission. She felt scared of what they would think, nervous about what could go wrong if they pushed too hard and curious about what they had been up to for these past five years. Her parents, for their part, seemed oblivious to the magic taking place around them.

Tonight they were heading out again. It was Friday night and her parents would be heading out to a bar or a movie or a play. Harry was already waiting for her in their living room, but Hermione always needed a moment to herself so that she could prepare mentally for what she was about to do. Harry never begrudged her that, for which she was thankful. It was entirely possible that he was more worried about the possible mistakes that she could make with her legillimency if her emotions were running high, but Hermione preferred to believe that it was simply Harry's inner kindness coming out. _He really is a sweetheart._ Taking a deep breath Hermione walked out into the living room where Harry was sitting on the couch. He was wearing what she could only describe as a very dashing suit.

"Ready?" he asked her, and Hermione knew that he wasn't asking about her makeup or her hair.

"I think so." she replied without much joy. Torn between hoping that her parents would choose to attend a show so that they would be unable to look their estranged daughter in the eye and have their minds plucked through and hoping that they would choose a bar so that there was a chance that they might remember her sooner, she didn't have any energy to spare faking enthusiasm for their venture. If she had not been so wrapped up in her own thoughts she might have noticed the pained look that crossed Harry's features, but as it was the brief expression remained unnoticed.

Harry consulted the map they had bought of the city and the pair of tokens that were linked to the elder Grangers through a pair of tracking charms that the magical couple renewed every time they encountered their 'patients'. Both of the little magnets had moved to Barkley Street, just a ten-minute drive south of where the Grangers lived. Hermione felt something tighten in her gut as she knew that there were several restaurants and cafes on that street that her parents liked to frequent. _At least we should be able to make some progress tonight._

A slight breath of air tugged at her carefully done hair as Harry flung the invisibility cloak over the two of them and took her hand. The squeeze he gave her repeated the question he had just asked her. Taking a deep breath, Hermione returned the squeeze. A moment later she was caught in the uncomfortable sensation of side-along apparition.

They landed in a side-alley, well hidden behind a rather foul-smelling skip. It was a place they had used before. Harry whipped the cloak off of them and barely took the time to stuff it in his expanded pocket before the stench of rotting garbage drove them out into the river of people streaming past.

Hermione kept her grip on Harry's arm as they drifted past the various locales, pretending to be just another couple out on the town. If asked, Hermione would have vehemently denied any reason other than their cover for clutching onto her best friends arm like that. In the privacy of her own mind she could admit that there was more to it than that.

This covert operation to restore her parents' memories was wearing at her more than she could have possibly anticipated when she had woken Harry to ask him when they could leave. Her spirit might well have given into the battering if it hadn't been for Harry's solid presence at her side.

She knew he didn't entirely understand what she was going through; that he probably wouldn't have been able to even if he had known his own parents. Despite that he had managed to find a balance between holding her up without intruding too far into the shadows of guilt that hung about her.

These moments when they were about to break into the elder Grangers' minds brought that guilt particularly harshly to the forefront of her mind and Harry's physical support did more than he would ever know to keep her going.

"I think I've found them. They're at the Belle again." The Village Belle Hotel was one of her parents' favourite spots in Melbourne. More specifically: they loved going to the Doulton Lounge on the first floor of the hotel. "You ready?"

Hermione looked up to find a pair of concerned emeralds focused entirely on her, trying to read anything they could from her face. Taking a deep breath, she gave a nod, not entirely ready to trust her voice.

"Okay. Here we go." As they walked towards the door that would take them to where her parents were probably already being seated Hermione reaffirmed her grip on her partner's arm. _I can't afford to turn back. I have to see this through. I have to._

:-:-:-:-:

Harry and Hermione made their way into the lounge and looked around. The Doulton Lounge, as its name might suggest to any Brit worth their tea, was divided up into pink and blue booths. The pink booths were decorated in a way that somehow made Harry think 'Arabian nights'. He wasn't sure how he had come to the conclusion that it looked like something out of a sultan's palace, but judging by the dismissive snort he had gotten from Hermione when he had first mentioned this association neither had the person who had first come up with the design.

The blue booths looked like someone had set up a pub with just a cursory understanding of what one of those might look like. The decor was just a touch too rich to really pull it off, but gained in eclectic charm what it lost in authenticity. As Harry's eyes roved over the familiar furnishings he felt something in him relax.

"They're sitting in a blue booth." he murmured and felt Hermione sag into him a little bit in relief. The two had been here before and had seen the Grangers in both settings. When the two dentists picked a pink booth they invariably ended up all over each other before the night was halfway through.

It was a side Harry had never expected Hermione's parents to have and it always made him feel terribly awkward to see it. He could only imagine what Hermione went through whenever that particular scene played out in front of them.

The two magicals quickly made their way over to the blue half of the lounge and picked a table that would give them a decent line of sight to where the Grangers were sitting. They looked over the menu for a moment.

"What would you like?" Harry asked Hermione. He got a tense shrug in reply and had to repress a sigh. It was a common enough response from her on nights like this, but it always hurt Harry to see the stress tightening Hermione's eyes. Outwardly he just nodded and stood up to make his way over to the bar and place an order for pair of Solos.

The lemon-flavoured soft-drink was popular with the locals, but Harry couldn't help but feel like the name was specifically directed at him on nights like this. Solo... with Hermione so focused on her parents she didn't notice the way his own attention lingered on her and Harry just didn't know if he was grateful for that or disappointed by it.

He shook away the unwelcome thought as he always did when it occurred to him. _I'm here to help Hermione, not to have her pull the cart of my own selfish desires_ he reminded himself. No matter how often the reminder was administered though, the ache in his heart just wouldn't go away. _Then at least control yourself before Hermione has to worry about that as well._

By the time he returned to their table with the drinks Harry was fairly sure that he had smoothed his hidden emotions off his face. By the longing way Hermione was staring at her parents he doubted she would have noticed either way. He set one of the glasses in front of Hermione, causing her to blink in surprise and look up at him.

"You were getting a little obvious." Harry offered apologetically. Something twisted behind his friend's eyes, but she nodded before focusing on the drink.

It had proven difficult to find the right balance between eye contact and outright staring. The first was a necessary part of the legilimency they were employing to try and restore the Grangers' memories. The second would make them seem overly suspicious. Hermione had been the one to point out that if they spooked her parents too much that it would then become nearly impossible to ever get close enough again to finish the procedure.

Frankly, the fact that Mr. and Mrs. Granger had no magic of their own was the only windfall they had had so far in this 'treatment'. Once a legillimentic connection had been made there was no way for the dentists to kick them out, not even breaking the initial eye-contact. Harry and Hermione would have to withdraw from their minds voluntarily.

The other advantage of searching for magically hidden memories in a non-magical mind was that the charmed parts stood out like beacons in the night. The night they had realised this and what it meant for the timescale on which they might restore the Grangers was the last time Harry could remember Hermione truly beaming a smile out into the world.

Since then her happiness seemed to have receded again. Harry thought that he could at least guess at the cause: despite the fact that they saved time by not having to actively hunt down the hidden memories, they had to go far more slowly in trying to prod them into unfolding than they might have with a wizarding couple. Since the Grangers had no magic of their own to protect them from over-enthusiastic pressing into their minds Harry and Hermione had agreed, after talking it over with Healer Snowdon, that it was for the best that they take things slowly so as not to cause unintended damage.

Harry was pulled away from his musings the instant he glanced over at the Wilkins' table and caught Hermione's father looking back. Harry wasn't about to let a chance like that escape and had slipped into the man's mined by the time his gaze had continued on in a sweep of the room. He gently tapped the back of Hermione's hand twice to let her know that he was in and settled into focusing on finding the magical anomalies in a muggle's mind and gently prodding them to see if they might unfold.

It didn't take long for Harry to lose track of the world around him as he focused on Mr. Granger's hidden memories. He had found a promising spot the last time he had been inside the dentist's mind and he was eager to have another look at it. It didn't take much searching, given how few memories had magic woven through them, for Harry to rediscover the memory that had caught his attention the last time.

Judging by the memories around it, this one might be of Hermione actually casting the Memory Charm. So far it was the memory with the most 'give' to it. Harry hoped that if this one managed to unfold that the rest would follow as the Grangers realised that they had a daughter who also happened to be an extremely competent witch. _Don't get ahead of yourself, Potter. Slow and easy's the ticket here._

From his own experience in having a memory restored Harry hoped that the Grangers would slowly start to find themselves drawn to Hermione, would want to have her around for reasons they would not be able to explain until the dam broke and they understood that a part of them had recognised their daughter. He really didn't want to think too much about what might happen if the dam burst without that leadup and the Grangers were suddenly faced with two sets of contradicting memories.

Harry was unsure of how long he had been working and gently poking every memory he could reach into unfolding a little more when he felt a pair of taps on the back of his hand. _Hermione must have made eye contact with her mother._

The two magicals kept at their work, only pausing occasionally to take a sip of their drinks or make some inane remark to avoid being thought of as strange for sitting there as still as statues despite having expressly come to a bar. It all went fairly well for an hour or so. Harry was pulled out of what probably looked like a distracted reverie by someone clearing their throat and a female voice clearly addressing him and Hermione.

"Excuse me?" Harry looked up and almost cursed out loud when he saw Hermione's parents standing at their table. Her mother was the one who had spoken and seemed to be feeling slightly embarrassed about what she was about to say. "Look, it may be our imagination, but the two of you seem to be popping up in a lot of the places we visit." _ShitShitShit. Say something._

 _No! Think of something to say first! Don't blow this for Hermione._

"We had wondered if we were imagining things ourselves." As the lie left his mouth Harry wondered where it had come from. Making up a believable story had never really been his strong suit. "Hermione even joked a few days ago that it was like having friends we didn't even know." A single look at Hermione's face was enough to tell anyone that a joke was the furthest thing from her mind right now. She had gone deathly pale and Harry could feel her nails digging into the skin of his hand. Harry ignored the pain and focused on the expressions on the Grangers' faces. He could tell that they had probably intended to ask if they were being followed, but it would seem rude now that he had given them a plausible explanation without prompting; or at least a reaction since he hadn't really explained anything. Harry was banking heavily on the fact that the people who had raised Hermione would be nothing if not polite.

"I suppose that's one way to look at." Mr. Granger finally allowed. "The two of you are British?"

"We are. We arrived in Australia last year. We spent some time in Adelaide before moving down here." Harry replied while forcing himself to meet the two dentists' eyes. He could feel Hermione struggling not to completely break down next to him, but he was hyper-aware of the fact that if he drew attention to it in any way that they'd have to justify it to her parents. The way the pair kept darting looks to his left was a dead giveaway that they'd take the first opening to turn the conversation towards what on earth was wrong with Hermione.

"Oh yes, we've been up to visit Adelaide a few times." Helen nodded. "I thought it was quite a lovely city. Why did you move here?"

"Ah... well, we really only started living in Adelaide because of a hospital there. When its services were no longer needed we rather felt like a fresh start."

"What did you need a hospital for?" Hermione's mother asked in shock.

"That's a bit... personal." Harry fended her off. He hoped they would chalk it up to an embarrassing procedure that he didn't want to discuss with someone he had just met. It was even true if thought about in a certain way. Unfortunately, the way her parents were looking at them turned out to be a bit too much for Hermione to handle. Harry felt her shoot to her feet.

"Sorry. Got to go." she croaked out in a voice that didn't sound anything like her usual one. Hermione barely got the words out of her mouth before she was fleeing from the booth. Harry was left with the two people who didn't know that they were her parents.

"My apologies. I don't mean to run out on you, but..."

"We understand." Hermione's mother assured him. "Just go and help her. Your wife looked very unwell."

"We-... we're not married yet." Harry disagreed awkwardly as his eyes darted to the door that Hermione had fled through.

"Oh... I'm sorry." Mrs. Granger apologised.

"Yeah, me too." Harry murmured in response before shaking himself. He got up and began heading towards the exit. "I really have to go now. Maybe we'll see you again some time. Don't hesitate to join us if you do. We don't know all that many people around here yet and you seem to have a lot of the same tastes we do. I for one would like to get to know you better."

"Yeah..." he heard Mr. Granger agree unenthusiastically behind him. Harry understood that the conversation just now hadn't exactly smoothed the path towards restoring the Grangers' memories, but he didn't have any concern left to spend on that matter. His mind had already turned to Hermione and how she must be taking the unexpected confrontation with the parents who couldn't even remember who she was.

Outside of the hotel Harry couldn't find a trace of his runaway friend. Unsure of where she might have gone in a city they were still relatively unfamiliar with he chose to head for the place he was sure she would return to eventually. After darting into a back-alley so he wouldn't be seen, Harry apparated back to the flat.

He was disappointed, though not surprised, to find their home empty. Hermione was better at reading his behaviour than he was at reading hers and something told him she probably wanted to be alone right now. Turning on the lights he checked every room anyway, as if the act of searching for her might magically summon Hermione. In the end Harry came to the conclusion that the only course of action left to him was to wait for Hermione to decide to come home on her own.

It didn't take long for the waiting and the worrying to start to wear at him though. In an effort to distract himself, Harry set about making a cup of tea. Once he had a cup of the steaming beverage in hand he sat down at their kitchen table and tried to force his mind away from images of Hermione caught up in some nebulous, undefined trouble. He tried to remind himself that Hermione was quite a bit smarter than he was and more than a little capable of handling herself... usually.

 _Usually doesn't include times when she's been emotionally torn to shreds by something as trying as what she faced tonight._

Deciding that it was probably going to be a long night Harry gripped his mug of tea a bit tighter and prayed that Hermione come home safe and sound.

:-:-:-:-:

Dawn's long rosy fingers were reaching down the street as Hermione walked back to the apartment she shared with Harry. She could have apparated there, but actually using her legs grounded her in the here and now more than the instant of uncomfortable translocation would ever be able to and feeling grounded was important to her right now.

Having her parents approach them looking more unfriendly than Hermione had ever seen them, even taking into account several annoying salesmen who had stopped by the house when she was younger, had simply been too much to bear.

Hermione had told herself when she cast the Memory Charm that she could live with her parents hating her as long as they were safe. While she still couldn't contemplate the idea of them coming to harm, she was no longer quite as sure that she _could_ deal with them hating her.

Faced with an attitude that had only barely avoided crossing over into hostility a single question had brought Hermione's fears into stark focus: _if they're acting like this now, how can I possibly expect them to ever want anything to do with me again once they find out what I've done to them?_

There was no clear answer to her question even as she entered the building that contained their flat. It was early enough that there was a good chance Harry would still be asleep, so Hermione opened their front door as carefully as she could. After closing it with the same care she slipped her shoes of and padded across their kitchen/living room towards her bedroom.

"Hermione?" The groggy question had Hermione almost plastered to the ceiling as she jumped and shrieked with surprise.

"Harry!" she gasped out as her hand flew to her breast in an effort to still the organ beating out a frantic tattoo beneath it. "Don't scare me like that!"

"Sorry." Now that her attention had been drawn to him Hermione studied Harry where he sat at their table in the soft, tenuous light of the dawn. He was still wearing the clothes he had been when they had gone out the night before. He was pushing himself off the table is if he had slept slumped over it in what Hermione could only imagine must have been an uncomfortable and unplanned posture. By that same logic, if the tea in the mug in front of him was still hot Hermione would eat her shoes. Harry had clearly been waiting for her to come home.

"You should really sleep in your bed you know." Hermione scolded, hoping to distract her friend long enough to make it to her own bed. Unfortunately, she wasn't to be granted that kind of luck.

"Did you figure out whether you want to keep going?"

"What?" Hermione felt a chill snake down her spine at the calm way Harry had asked that question, as if she could just up and tell him that she wouldn't be able to bear another moment and Harry would simply walk away from all of this with her.

"That's what you were doing all night, right? Figuring out if you could still go through with this even if it means we'll have to face up to your parents like we did until we manage to restore their memories."

"So we'll just abandon them?! Leave them unable to remember most of their life because I-... because I was too selfish to let them choose?!" Hermione's chest was heaving with the exertion of screaming at Harry. He simply stood up though and wrapped his arms around her.

"If you decide that you can't go through with this? Yes. It would be better to stop now than continuing to risk damage to their minds only to give up later." Hermione wrenched herself out of his arms and looked up at Harry in disbelief. There was sympathy in his eyes, but it sat next to a determination that he wasn't going to budge on this, no matter how it hurt the two of them. In some ways Hermione could understand his position, but...

"This isn't fair, Harry. You can't just put this decision on me." she protested, averting her gaze so she wouldn't have to meet his eyes. It wouldn't do to have Harry see that even her own heart saw the flaw in her protest.

"Who else can make it?" _Damn. Why didn't I just do all his homework for him? That way he would have at least had to think it over._ It was an uncharitable thought and, worse, a ridiculous one. _I really need some sleep._

"Harry, I don't know if I can. I mean, how can I make that choice for my parents?" Harry was quiet for a moment.

"Look, I-... I don't really understand parents. When I think about whether my parents would be proud of me and what I've done, whether they would consider their sacrifice worth it-... It scares me, Hermione. If I had a way to bring them back though, really back, not that stuff with the stone, I want to think that I would take that chance. I'm not saying they'd necessarily be happy with me, but it'd be the only way I could let them choose for themselves whether they wanted to be around me or not."

Hermione was stunned. She had been wrestling with these questions all night and here was Harry presenting a well-thought out answer. Hermione turned the idea that had been presented over and over in her mind. It didn't take long to see how Harry had reached his conclusions. Hermione could even follow the morality somewhat. The problem was that these were _her_ parents and the possible repercussions of her decision weighed heavily on her.

"Hermione?" Hermione was dragged out of her swirling thoughts by Harry's soft question. Once he saw that he had her attention he continued. "You don't need to make the decision right away. We can take a break from trying to unlock your parents' memories while you work on this.

"Thank you, Harry." Hermione murmured as the weight became just a little less with that assurance. "I probably should get some rest before making a major decision." Harry nodded. A note of concern crept into his eyes.

"Good night, Hermione." He said. She gave him her best effort at a smile and turned back to her own room. Just as she was walking through the door she heard Harry speak again. "I'm just glad that you're home safe." It was said so softly that Hermione didn't think that she was actually supposed to hear it. The words kept replaying in her head as she crawled into bed though. As her eyes closed her last thought was that unfair though it might have been to make Harry worry about her like that, it was nonetheless gratifying to know that the one person who was stuck in this mess with her still cared.

:-:-:-:-:

Harry woke up later that morning with an audible groan. His time spent slumped over the kitchen table had left him with an unbelievable crick in his neck; his back too come to that. With another groan he forced himself up from his mattress and shuffled out towards the bathroom in hopes that a warm shower would convince his muscles to relax.

"Harry? What's wrong?" Looking up Harry could just see Hermione in their kitchen. She appeared to be making breakfast.

"...'m fine." Harry muttered.

"Uh-huh. Then why are you walking around like an old man?" Hermione demanded as she marched over, eyebrow raised in sceptical challenge.

"I-... I must've slept in a weird position." Harry muttered. "Should be fine after a shower." Hermione's eyes just studied him for a moment.

"I have a better idea. Follow me." Harry briefly considered just ignoring her and heading in for his shower anyway. _She'll just catch me when I come out_ he decided. Resigned to whatever fate Hermione had in store for him, Harry followed Hermione into the common area of their flat. He watched as she shot a look at the table, already partly set out for their breakfast, before her wand flicked out at their couch.

The couch reformed itself into a padded table with a small oval hole at one end. Harry blinked in surprise as he tried to figure out what he was looking at.

"Well? Get on." At Hermione's impatient command Harry's gaze was torn from the odd contraption. The sight of her face covered with a light pink dusting as she refused to meet his eyes only served to heighten his confusion.

"Hermione?"

"Just do it, Harry." Harry hesitated for another moment before laying himself down on the strange table. "On your face." Not expecting an answer should he question this strange command Harry just complied with it. He shifted around a little to get comfortable. He discovered that the little oval fit his face quite snugly and allowed him to lie completely face down.

Around him the air filled with the scent of lavender and music so soft that he wasn't even sure that he was actually hearing it. His body jerked involuntarily when he felt a pair of hands land on his shoulders.

"Shh. Just relax. Your muscles are carrying way too much tension." Hermione's voice murmured over him. Harry tried to do as he was told but those first applications of pressure kept causing his back to spasm. Each time it did, Hermione's gentle voice would murmur a soothing admonition to relax. Slowly Harry began to feel himself almost melting into that table.

When Hermione's hands finally lifted away from his back he was surprised to feel nothing more than a faint echo of the discomfort he had woken up with. He tried to push himself up, but a couple of light fingers laid on his shoulder convinced him otherwise.

"Get up slowly. I've just been pushing your blood around and working your muscles; give them a chance to settle." Considering the relief that listening to Hermione had brought him so far, Harry was inclined to keep listening. Nothing could shift the languid smile on his lips as he finally lifted himself into a sitting position.

"That was amazing, Hermione." He murmured. "Where did you learn how to do that?"

"I read a book." she responded impishly. _Of course you did._ "Why don't you go get showered while I finish getting breakfast ready?"

"I don't know what I did to deserve this, but thank you." Harry sighed. As he passed Hermione he felt an impulse well up inside of him and leant over to press a quick kiss to her cheek. It wasn't until the warm water was clattering down on his head that the fog of relaxation lifted enough for the implications of what he had just done to hit him. He had to steady himself on the tiled wall as he realised that after months of carefully keeping himself in check he might have just spectacularly blown his cover. _I need to figure out a way to recover from this._

No matter how he thought about it though, Harry couldn't come up with a way of explaining his actions that Hermione wouldn't see through immediately. _Eugh... we're talking about trying to deceive the girl who taught me about relationships back at Hogwarts. It's hopeless._

In the end Harry abandoned his shower and decided that he was going to just be as honest as possible while trying to avoid actually admitting to the depth of his feelings. _Maybe if she assumes that I was just trying to thank her for the massage I won't add to her burdens._ There was only one word of a lie in that sentence after all: it hadn't been 'just' gratitude, but gratitude nonetheless.

Having something that resembled a plan, Harry got dressed quickly. He took a deep breath before stepping out into the living room. _Don't rush in_ he reminded himself. When Ron and he had tried to talk themselves out of something pre-emptively before, Hermione had always caught them out within seconds. Maybe if he just refrained from bringing the matter up himself he could protect the deepest truth of his secret. _Yeah... maybe._

Harry found Hermione sitting at the breakfast table. She looked up as he gingerly sat down and flashed him a happy smile. Harry's breath caught in his throat as he waited for the other shoe to drop.

"Good, you're here. Would you like a cup of tea?"

"Um, sure?" Harry couldn't figure this out. It didn't look like Hermione had any intention of examining his slip-up in excruciating detail. Even more confusing: somewhere inside of his awakening relief he could feel a lurking disappointment. _This is ridiculous. I can't even figure out what_ I _feel. How am I ever going to figure Hermione out?_ "So, what's the occasion?"

"Well, I just wanted to thank you for being concerned." Hermione admitted with a soft smile. "I think I've been so focused on my parents that I'd forgotten that there was someone else in this world who cared about me."

"You don't need to worry about me, Hermione." Harry tried to reassure her. "And if you feel like we've been overdoing it with your parents, let's go out and do something, just for us."

"What do you mean?"

"A play, a movie, a concert, just some dinner... anything you like, really. Just something we can do to relax." Harry could almost see the way Hermione was turning that idea over in her mind.

"I think I'd like that." she finally murmured. Harry beamed a smile at her feeling like he had accomplished something unexpected and worthwhile this morning.

:-:-:-:-:

"Good morning, Hermione!" Harry's voice sang through the room. Hermione groaned and turned her face deeper into her pillow.

"Don' wanna." she groaned.

"It's already ten-thirty, slugabed."

She could hear the damn grin in his voice. "Don' wanna." she reiterated.

"I know, but if I don't get you up the rest of the schedule is going to get really crowded."

Hermione lifted her head up slightly to aim a baleful, one-eyed glare at her best friend.

"What schedule?"

"Your birthday schedule." Harry answered like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Judging by the look on his face he was having tremendous fun with how grumpy she was being.

"My-..." Hermione stopped before she could well and truly get started as the fact that today was her twenty-fourth birthday hit home. "My birthday." she murmured to herself.

"Yes, it is." Harry grinned. "I should mention that our first stop requires that we be there at eleven-thirty sharp; brunch is included." Hermione could only blink at him as she tried to catch up. "Well? Get showered already." Harry laughed at her as he took an arm and tugged her out of bed. Hermione let herself be propelled into the bathroom.

It wasn't until she felt the hot water clattering down on her head that the conversation she had just had begun to properly sink in. Biting her lower lip for a moment as she weighed her decision Hermione reached for the bottle of Sleakeazy's that she rarely used. _If Harry's gone through the trouble of organising something, I guess I'll put in a little effort as well._ After she had attacked her hair, Hermione decided that the rest of her appearance couldn't be left lagging behind and grabbed her make-up.

By the time she had pulled on the dress she had chosen to wear since Harry had put on a suit, put on her heels and grabbed her purse Hermione found that they were running out of the door with only a few minutes until the clock would strike eleven-thirty.

"Are we going to make it?" she gasped out, cursing herself for not keeping a better eye on the time.

"You say that like we _can't_ magic up a solution." Harry answered, though Hermione noticed that he didn't sound quite as flippant as he had probably hoped. Instead of dragging out the conversation she thrust out her hand and felt the uncomfortable squeeze of being side-along apparated.

The first thing she noticed once they arrived was the smell. It was salt and fish and tar and undeniably nautical. Looking around, she gaped at finding herself in a yacht harbour.

"Okay, I don't think we were seen. Let's go." Harry muttered next to her, already moving off without having let go of her hand. Hermione rushed to keep up as best she could on her heels. Thankfully Harry had set them down fairly close to their apparent destination: a fly bridge cruiser with a small queue of people already boarding. The two magicals managed to join without looking unduly out of breath.

"Tickets please." a young man in a purser's uniform asked them when they reached the head of the queue. Hermione watched as Harry reached into the interior pocket of his blazer and drew out an envelope. Hiding it from view he pulled out two tickets and handed them over. "Thank you very much, sir. Jason here will show you to your table."

As they followed the indicated crew member Hermione's eyes couldn't tear themselves away from the envelope Harry was returning to its hiding place.

"What? You didn't think that this was it, did you?" Harry grinned, clearly having noticed where she was looking. Hermione blushed at being caught out like that.

"I'd not have complained if a luxurious boat trip was 'it', Harry." she murmured. For some reason it felt imperative that Harry not think of her as shallow enough to demand more than he was already giving, however small the chance that that was actually his opinion.

"Yeah, but this isn't about you 'not complaining'." Harry grinned. "It's about you having a genuinely great day."

"Thank you, Harry." Hermione murmured taking his arm and leaning her head against his shoulder. Their conversation had carried them all the way to the bow of the ship where the crewman bowed them to their table. It looked like he was about to do more when Harry stepped past the man and held out a chair for her. Hermione smiled at him and took her seat as elegantly as she could. Harry took his own seat as their guide left. "So tell me, where are we?" Hermione murmured, not wanting anyone to overhear the admittedly strange question.

"Sydney." Harry answered with a wink. "We're going to take a tour of the bay for a few hours before we move onto dinner and then the final surprise."

"Sydney?!" Hermione gasped in surprise.

Harry's loud "Shhh!" reminded her that she had just come close to putting them in the position of having to come up with an extremely awkward explanation. She winced at him in apology and received an understanding nod in return.

"Sorry. Cross country apparition really shouldn't surprise me anymore." Hermione said, quietly enough that she felt reasonably sure she wouldn't be overheard. Harry gave her a considering look for a moment before a teasing grin stretched his lips.

"Probably because it was so difficult for you to get up this morning... or just now, whichever it was."

Hermione very maturely threw her napkin at his face. It seemed to be an action that signalled the start of a truly present conversation. The pair hadn't ever visited Sydney before, despite having lived in Australia for over a year now and Hermione found the view they had of the city's waterline extremely stimulating. In her excitement she found herself rattling off facts about everything she saw, much like she used to do back at Hogwarts when something caught her fancy.

The moment she realised what she was doing she snapped her mouth shut. _Damn it all, I know how much Harry and Ron hate it when I do that. I'm ruining a perfectly nice day out._ When she looked across the table though she found Harry resting his cheek on a propped-up hand with a perfectly content smile on his face. His other hand reached across the table and gave hers a squeeze.

"Don't stop. I was enjoying listening to you."

Hermione blushed slightly. "I thought you found it annoying when I went off like that?" Harry just shook his head, still smiling.

"Tell me about that place." he told her, pointing towards the shore. Hermione followed the line of his finger and grinned at the lush greenery he was pointing out.

"Oooh! That must be Taronga Zoo!" She forgot all about her earlier reservations and didn't notice that she had started lecturing again until the waiter came by to serve them their meal. It was also around this time that Hermione noticed that her hand was still lying on the table, intertwined with Harry's. All in all, Hermione couldn't describe her mood as anything but happy and comfortable.

:-:-:-:-:

After they got off the boat Harry found himself with a beaming Hermione hanging off his arm, still eagerly pointing out the sights to him. _What I wouldn't give to always be able to see her like this._

A hailed taxi drove the couple around the bay to a restaurant with a beautiful view of the Harbour Bridge and the passing nautical traffic. By the time they walked in it had been a few hours since their brunch on board of the boat, but Harry couldn't say that he was particularly hungry. It had been so long since he had seen Hermione this happy and that seemed to be nourishing him more than mere food ever could.

The restaurant's menu described their food as "modern Australian cuisine". The phrase didn't really mean anything to Harry, but the oyster appetizer and wallaby steak were delicious. Hermione was certainly marvelling at the chance to eat something so uniquely local. Harry would have gladly forgotten about everything else and sat there until the restaurant kicked them out, but his last surprise meant that he had to keep an eye on the time. He could tell that Hermione was slightly surprised when he asked for the check and held out his hand to her after he'd paid.

"Did you forget? There's still one more surprise." Hermione didn't respond verbally, but slipped her hand into his. When she held on to that hand even as they left the restaurant Harry briefly allowed himself to fantasize about how they must look to the other diners. _Maybe they think we're dating or maybe even that we're really married._ Inside the taxi Hermione's grip predictably tightened when he gave the driver their destination. "The Opera House, please."

"Harry, you didn't..."

"I thought you might like to see an actual opera there." Harry grinned. He was proud that he'd managed to come up with this as a birthday present for his friend and also that he'd managed to properly keep it a secret in the build-up. Hermione might just have agreed as he felt her lips press to his cheek.

"Thank you, Harry. Which opera are we going to see?" Hermione murmured. _This night can't get any better._

Harry reached into his pocket without letting go of Hermione's hand and pulled out the opera tickets. "It's called, um, _Mingon_?" Feeling Hermione tense up next to him he looked up in worry. "Is that a bad one?"

"N-no... not really. It was incredibly popular for a while in fact. It's just... I remember it being about a long-lost daughter. She and her father only figure it out at the end."

Harry almost screamed aloud in frustration. "I'm sorry." he said instead, "We can just go into the city or go back home if you prefer."

"No, I don't want all the effort you put into tonight to go to waste." Hermione smiled sadly.

"I put the effort in so you would enjoy yourself, Hermione." he reminded her gently. "If this opera upsets you then there's no real point in going."

"No, I want to. They find each other in the end after all and, well, I guess I'm still hoping."

Mindful of the cabbie, Harry just nodded. _I'll have to check with her when we have some privacy whether this means that she's reached a decision._

"If it gets to be too much, just say the word and we'll head out." he offered. Hermione nodded and gave his hand another squeeze.

Soon they drew up to the famous opera house. Harry helped Hermione out of the taxi and, still hand in hand, the two magicals headed towards the entrance. As he walked Harry looked up at the impressive architecture and felt like kicking himself. _It was going so well. Why didn't I check to see what the bloody show was about?!_ There was nothing for it now except to keep an eye on Hermione and make sure that she didn't push herself to far for his sake.

They made their way over to their seats in silence and sat down together. The lights dimmed, and the curtain raised on a group of partying gypsies. Harry barely paid any attention to the story playing out in front of him, even though the subtitles being played on a long narrow screen above the stage certainly helped figure out what the characters were actually singing. He was far too busy checking on Hermione every chance he got.

Thankfully, despite the slightly sad look on her face, she seemed to be completely absorbed in the performance. Slowly, almost without realising it, Harry started to get drawn into the story of the love triangle between Mingon, Wilhelm, Lothario and Philline. When Lothario declared at the end of the opera that returning to the home he had abandoned, maddened by grief at the loss of his wife and daughter, had restored his sanity and that he now recognised his daughter, Harry heard a single, almost inaudible sob.

Without overthinking it he reached out and pulled Hermione into a hug. _I really,_ really _need to learn to plan these things out better._ Guilt washed through him so powerfully that he couldn't even be happy that Hermione had pressed into him, rather than reject his comfort. He was drawn out of his wallowing when he thought he heard Hermione mumble something into his clavicle.

"What was that?" he asked as gently as he could. Hermione pulled back slightly and looked up at him with a blazing determination shining through tears she was fighting to hold back.

"I want that. I want Dad to be able to remember me."

Harry studied her eyes for a moment, looking for any hint of uncertainty, and found them clear and assured. He nodded his agreement. They would resume their work of restoring the Grangers' memories.

"We can worry about that when we get back to Melbourne." he assured her. "What would you say to one more drink before we head home?"

"I think I'd like that." Hermione managed with a slight smile. They made their way outside towards the Opera Bar. Harry let Hermione order a glass of wine and settled for a Solo himself since he would be the one apparating them home. They found themselves standing at the railing of the bar's terrace looking out over the bay. "Harry?"

"Hmm?" Harry found that he was too content to respond with anything more than a slight hum. He was taken by surprise when he felt Hermione's lips land on his cheek for the second time that day.

"This has been the most wonderful birthday. Thank you... for everything."

"Always." The couple sank back into silence, occasionally sipping their drinks as they simply enjoyed the moment. Unfortunately, the moment could not last long. The sound of a throat being cleared deliberately behind them caused Harry to look over his shoulder. He had intended to tell whoever it was to just sod off, but felt recognition land like an iceberg in his gut.

"Ah, we were wondering if it might be the two of you." Richard Granger said, oblivious to the stream of invective raging through Harry's mind. _Your timing could_ not _be worse._

"You're in Sydney." he managed through his shock, desperately trying to figure out how he was going to get Hermione away from here.

"Yeah, we came up for the weekend..." Hermione's father trailed off awkwardly as her mother looked on uncomfortably. Harry's mind refused to supply any words for his mouth to speak as he tried to process that the one time they _hadn't_ gone looking for the Grangers they had managed to run into them anyway. While he was struggling to find his tongue, Harry noticed Mr. Granger squaring his shoulders.

"Would the two of you like to join us for a barbecue some time?" the dentist asked the gobsmacked pair of magicals. Harry would never have guessed that this invitation was on the cards based on the way the two dentists had confronted them the last time. He realised that their surprise had clearly been noticed when Mr. Granger continued. "We realised after you left last time that we really don't have a lot of friends that share our interests around here. Rather than confronting a couple who seem to share our interests the decent thing to do would have been to shake your hand and see if we could strike up a friendship. We're hoping you'll give us a chance to start over."

Harry shot a quick glance over at Hermione. She had only just firmed her resolve to continue working on her parents' memories minutes before and he was worried that this would be a step too far too soon. There was a small smile on her face though that would probably look convincing to anyone who had no more than a passing acquaintance with the woman next to him. Harry felt his heart soar with pride at the way Hermione was pushing herself forward for the sake of her family. He only hoped that he would have done the same if he would ever have been placed in a similar situation.

"We'd like that." Harry spoke for the two of them. He could tell that keeping that smile on her face already constituted a monumental effort for Hermione; one that might stretch her to breaking point if she was forced to verbally reply. He felt assured in his conclusions when he saw her slight nod.

"Excellent!" Mr. Granger exclaimed while his wife beamed out a smile next to him. "If you're opera fans then perhaps next time we can coordinate our seats. The Victorian back in Melbourne might lose out to this place in fame, but it puts on a good show."

"Perhaps we should." Harry agreed easily, unable to believe their good fortune that the Grangers apparently wanted them around. The knowledge brought a certain tension with it since any kind of cock-ups now would likely cost them more than they could afford, but it was undeniably good news for their ultimate goal of restoring Wendell and Monica Wilkins' memories to those of Mr. and Mrs. Granger. "Unfortunately, we need to get going. We're actually heading back out to Melbourne tonight."

"That's a shame." Mrs. Granger said, looking like she honestly meant it. "We're staying for a few more days to really take in the sights. Would you like to exchange phone numbers so we can compare our diaries when we get back?"

Harry went through the process of writing down the Grangers' number, and giving them the number for the flat he and Hermione were staying at, as fast as he could without seeming rude. It still took a fair few minutes before he managed to get Hermione away from that situation.

Her silence as they looked for an appropriate apparition spot was driving Harry's worry ever higher. Finally, they found a large skip, as could be expected near a venue of this size, and he grabbed his best friend in a tight hug, apparating them into the living room of their flat.

As soon as they landed Hermione drew back from him and made for her bedroom. Harry didn't like the way her head was hanging so low, but he didn't know how to call out to her to make her feel better. He was surprised when she stopped at the door to her room for a moment and looked over her shoulder.

"Thanks again, Harry. It really was a wonderful day. I just feel a little... overwhelmed right now." She didn't wait for him to respond, ducking into her room and closing the door behind her.

"Good night, Hermione." Harry murmured to the room at large. _I don't know that I'll ever completely figure you out._

:-:-:-:-:

For the week after her birthday Hermione felt unbalanced. The idea that her parents had decided to reach out to them was good in that it offered her a lot more opportunities to work on getting them back, but she wasn't entirely sure her heart could take being friends with them without them knowing the truth.

At the end of the week that feeling got a good deal worse when her parents actually called them up to set a date for the barbecue that had been discussed at the Sydney Opera House. She had thrust the phone into Harry's hands when she realised who was on the other end of it. Thankfully he'd understood.

Both by the metrics of making progress towards restoring her parents memories and building a friendship with them, the barbecue turned out to be quite successful. It certainly marked the start of weekly, and sometimes more frequent, gettogethers between the magicals and the dentists.

When they had invited the Wilkins' over to their flat Hermione had discovered whole new levels of tension and only Harry's calming presence had kept her from losing it in front of her parents. Even they seemed to have noticed something amiss that night and had ended things rather earlier than they normally would.

All of these interactions eventually led to an inevitable conclusion.

Hermione and Harry were visiting her parents, so they could enjoy the early November heat with a few cold drinks. In some of her more whimsical moments Hermione allowed herself to wonder if the reversal of the seasons wasn't perhaps even stranger to her than trying to restore her parents' memories. The comparison never took long and had yet to lead to a result other than a sweeping feeling of guilt for even considering it.

The afternoon with Wendell and Monica Wilkins was more than pleasant and Hermione was at least comforted to know that, even if they knew nothing about how they were related, her parents seemed to genuinely enjoy spending time with her; and spending as much time in her mother's mind as she did Hermione knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that her parents enjoyed this friendship.

Harry and she were of course exploiting the opportunity to work on her parents' memories some more and Hermione found herself only barely paying attention to the story her father was telling about some child with a truly destructive addiction to those sugary energy drinks and a mother that seemed to assume that a pair of dentists would be able to undo the damage as if by magic. Far more absorbing was the memory in her mother's mind that she was currently poking at.

Every time Hermione sent her magic towards it the memory seemed to shift like it was a desert mirage. She could tell that her mother noticed when this happened to as Helen would physically shake her head as if trying to rid herself of a bothersome fly. Hermione wondered if Harry remembered that sensation from his time without his memories and resolved to talk to him about it at the earliest opportunity. Almost absently Hermione gave the memory she had found in her mother's mind another push and almost jumped out of her chair as pandemonium broke out around her.

Helen had dropped out of her chair and to the grass, a loud scream escaping her lips as her hands flew up to grab her head. Richard was out of his seat a split-second later, clearly intent on getting to his wife's side.

" _Stupefy_!"

Hermione looked to the side in shock at Harry who was just lowering his wand.

"Hermione! Go help her." Harry commanded in a tone she hadn't heard him use since the war. She found herself obeying it just as surely as if they had just been caught in a Death Eater ambush and knelt down next to her mother.

"Monica?" She asked, using the cover name she had come up with years ago despite the birthing hope in her chest that she might finally be reaching the end. Helen was in no state to answer as she was retching into her lawn. Hermione settled for holding back her mother's hair and rubbing her back soothingly. The retching gradually slowed down and Hermione tried again. "Monica?"

That familiar face tilted up and a bloodshot, confused gaze met her own.

"H-hermione?" Mum, really Mum, stammered out. "You're my daughter... Hermione?" Hermione froze. All of the things she had planned to say to her parents once she and Harry had achieved their goal fled from her mind. Unable to trust her voice, Hermione could only manage a shaky nod, grateful for Harry's solid, reassuring presence appearing behind her. A small part of her was grateful that her father was still unconscious as facing both of her parents at the same time suddenly felt like an insurmountable ordeal.

Hermione stumbled into a standing position as her mother scrambled upright; her feet felt like they had been nailed to the lush grass beneath them. She was unable to do anything but watch as her mother raised a trembling hand. When that hand was hovering only millimetres from her face Hermione tensed as she waited for the contact, her eyes squeezed shut and her hands balled into fists. The moment seemed to stretch on for an eternity only to come crashing back to reality when her mother's hand finally made contact with Hermione's cheek.

Surprised that it wasn't a slap Hermione's eyes flew open and met her mother's teary ones. She saw matching tears flowing down her mother's face as Helen cupped her cheek.

"My little girl... my baby." Helen murmured in wonder. It was too much.

Hermione flung her arms around her mother, bawling like she hadn't since the monster under the bed had been real. She could feel her mother's hands running through her hair, feel their ribcages jumping erratically as they both let the emotions claim them.

When the sobbing finally subsided Hermione drew back slightly to shoot her mother a watery smile.

"I don't know if I can go through that again with Dad." she tried to joke.

"Guess we should be grateful Harry caught me up while you two were busy then." a deep voice responded. Hermione whirled around to find her father still sitting on the floor. For some reason she couldn't quite place Harry had decided to sit down next to him. What was more than obvious was that her best friend had managed to unlock her father's memories while she was hugging her mother.

"Daddy?" Hermione asked in something perilously close to a whimper as her father heaved himself to his feet. Once he was upright his only response was to hold his arms open and pluck the air with his fingers. Hermione didn't need a second invitation and flung herself into that familiar embrace.

"I've missed you, Hermione-girl." her father murmured into her hair. Hermione ruthlessly crushed her first instinct to point out that he couldn't have missed her without his memories of her and simply held on tighter.

"I've missed you too, Dad; so much."

Eventually her father drew back from the embrace and grinned at her.

"This calls for a celebration!" he declared. "I'm getting the good champers out of the fridge. Being able to remember that we're a family merits no less!" He looked over at where her mother was standing with Harry. Hermione could tell that the two had been having a discussion, probably one that resembled Harry's with her father earlier.

"That's a good idea, dear. I certainly feel in a celebratory mood." Mum grinned. Harry gave them a wry smile.

"Just give me a ring if you don't feel up to apparating home, okay?" he asked Hermione.

"Wait, you're not staying?" Mum asked in surprise. Harry blinked at her, apparently not having seen that question coming.

"Well, yeah. You're going to be celebrating as a family, aren't you?" he asked, sounding confused. Hermione almost groaned aloud at not having seen this coming and marched over to her best friend.

"What makes you think that you aren't family, you big lunk?" she demanded, poking him in the chest with a finger for good measure.

"Um, w-well, I-... technically we-... Hermione?" Harry rarely sounded quite this lost, but Hermione thought she managed to discern the problem through his rambling.

"If there are bits that you haven't explained to my parents yet then we'll get to them in time. I could really use you here to help with that though." she told him, both of them aware that they were talking about their accidental marriage.

"Are you sure?" Harry asked. Hermione couldn't remember the last time she had heard that vulnerable note in his voice. She took his hand and gave it a squeeze in an effort to reassure him.

"Absolutely." she said without a hint of doubt. Harry studied her for a moment longer.

"All right." he agreed. Hermione knew that tone: Harry had decided on his course and nothing was going to sway him from it. She gave him a grateful smile before turning to her parents and finding them looking like they had come across something wholly unexpected. _Just wait_ Hermione thought to herself as she imagined the rest of the conversation they were now going to have to have.

"Mum? Dad? We have as story you're going to have trouble believing."

:-:-:-:-:

The weeks that followed were some of the most blissful that Hermione could ever remember. The stories and questions on the day her parents had remembered who they were had taken so long that she and Harry had stayed the night. Every day since then had been spent making up for lost time. As they spent time together she saw the memories she and Harry hadn't managed to reach reasserting themselves.

Hermione was at least as pleased that the friendships they had established with her parents seemed to be flowing smoothly into something deeper and more meaningful. She discovered that her relationship with her mother was changing significantly now that she was a bit older. The two women would go on shopping trips that were more of an excuse to find a nice place to drink a glass of wine and talk until Harry or Richard would call them to ask if they needed a lift home.

The fact that Harry and her father had their own ritual and were perfectly happy to go and find a pub together pleased her more than she could explain, even to herself. It was the first weekend of December when the two men had declared that there was some football match in the Premier League that they absolutely _had_ to witness and that the television in the living room was apparently unsuited to the task.

Hermione rolled her eyes as the two men, grinning like a pair of teenagers and already conversing in hushed tones that made her think of the Marauders, left the house. Helen had apparently been far more ready to deal with the coming abandonment and had cheerfully poured them both a glass of white wine.

"Come on." she suggested, "Might as well enjoy the sunshine in the garden." Hermione accepted one of the glasses and followed her mother outside. The two women lowered themselves into a pair of garden loungers and simply basked in the heat for a moment. "You know, I'm very happy that your father gets along so well with Harry."

"Me too." Hermione agreed. "I don't want to think about how awkward it would have been if Dad had disapproved of him." Silence stretched out in the wake of that comment. Hermione turned her head to the side to check on her mother and found Helen staring back at her.

"Mum?"

"It's nothing dear. I just can't tell you how relieved I am to be able to do this. Now that I remember what it took to raise you as an infant I much prefer just being able to share a glass of wine with you." Helen's tone was teasing, but Hermione still felt that familiar stab of guilt in her gut, cold despite the summer sun. "None of that now." Her mother chided, having apparently read the play of emotions across her face.

"I just-..."

"Shh. I know, dear. We've already forgiven you, you know. Now it's up to you to forgive yourself." Hermione just looked away. "Perhaps it would help if you think on the good that's come out of all this hardship?"

"Good? What good? All I've really managed in restoring your memories is bringing things a little closer to how they used to be." Hermione protested.

"Are you telling me that nothing else has changed in your life between the moment you cast that spell and the moment we recognised you again?"

"It feels like everything has changed." Hermione snorted. "I'll admit that winning the war was a positive, but after that? We were only happy for as long as we were able to delude ourselves that what we were doing still mattered. Any _good_ that emerged from all that seems to have washed away on the day that I was supposed to marry Ron and found out that I was already married to Harry. With two exceptions our friends won't speak to us, we realised that our jobs were miserable and any romantic futures we might have had got trampled by a sodding quirk of fate!"

"And nothing in that jumps out at you as possibly being a good thing? Has it really been nothing but trials?" Hermione shot her mother a glare.

"Not really. I get the feeling that you're about to try and point something out though." Her mother's gaze felt like it carried a physical weight with it.

"Hermione, when I see you interacting with your Harry it's hard to think that the two of you together is not a good thing. It took far longer for your father and I to develop that kind of rapport and we were already admitting that we were in love when we got married."

"Harry and I aren't 'in love', Mum. We're just two people who managed to get married by accident because we didn't know enough about how magic works." Helen just quirked an eyebrow up. "Don't start on me, Mum." Hermione warned. She was roundly ignored.

"Hermione, I think that you're getting a little too caught up in that story of your accidental wedding to see what's in front of you now. How long ago was that wedding anyway? Five years now?"

"Six. And I don't think I can help being 'caught up' in it. That one event is the entire reason my life is the way it currently is."

"Yes, from what you've told me it's painfully clear that if you had married your other friend you would never have come to Australia, funded and used experimental medical magic and restored my memories so that we could have this conversation." Hermione felt her jaw snap shut. There wasn't a lot she could do to deny her mother's assertion. She might not be sure of what her life would be like if she had managed to marry Ron, but the odds of her having restored her parents' memories by this point seemed rather low in that situation. Her mother sighed out a heavy breath.

"I didn't mean to sound accusing, dear. Perhaps we should try a different angle. If you could only have one of the two in your life, Harry or Ron, which would you be able to do without? Don't think about being married to one or the other, just having them in your life." Hermione had her answer in a split second as her mind recoiled violently from the mere idea of not having Harry in her life. He was the only thing that she felt she could count on. To lose that steady presence… she couldn't, _wouldn't_ , even conceive of such a thing.

Hermione clenched her lips tightly shut to keep that thought from leaking out where her mother could hear it and doubtlessly turn it into something uncomfortable that she had no interest in being confronted with.

It didn't work.

"I can see the answer on your face, you know?"

"It's not really a fair answer." Hermione defended. "Too much has happened since we found out for my assessment of the situation to be the same as it would have been before then."

"Perhaps." Helen nodded, and Hermione got the looming feeling that she had just stepped firmly into a trap. "Are you going to hang on to an assessment that, judging by your own words, you know you cannot make or are you going to start looking at the assessment of your _current_ situation?" Hermione flushed, unaccustomed to having people attack her with logic like that. Logic was _her_ weapon. Mulishly she stayed silent as she tried to work out something to say that wouldn't dig her hole even deeper.

Helen seemed entirely unruffled by the silent fuming happening next to her and calmly took a sip of her wine. Hermione's thoughts felt like they were continually swirling around, never settling down long enough for her to get a good grasp on them. She was so lost in the effort of making sense of her confused desires and emotions that she didn't notice the path the sun was taking. Helen's hand gently patting her knee wrenched Hermione back to the present so forcefully that she couldn't contain a slight jump.

"I'm going to make some dinner, dear. Our boys will probably be back from the pub soon anyway and I don't feel like having barbecue tonight." Hermione snorted in light amusement at the distraction. Harry and her father would have happily stood out in the garden every evening watching meat scorch. At the kitchen door Helen paused and looked back. "Just so you know: I for one am anything but opposed to having your Harry as a son-in-law. I don't think that you father would mind either."

With that Hermione was left to sink back into the maelstrom of her thoughts that kept coming back to a single sentence: _How can I ever talk to Harry about what just happened?_

:-:-:-:-:

"Harry, can I have a word?" Harry looked up to find Richard standing next to him.

"Sure." he agreed easily before grinning up at the man. "Hermione and Helen having a conversation you didn't want to be a part of again?"

"Not quite." Richard answered as he lowered himself into the other garden chair. "Helen's actually distracting Hermione with a trip to the Chapel Street Precinct for the afternoon so we can have this talk." Harry's eyebrow peaked up with his surprise.

"And what do you want to talk to me about that badly?"

"There's something you said to us when we confronted you about following us around in that cafe, do you remember?"

"I remember the incident." Harry allowed carefully.

"Just before you left to follow Hermione, Helen called her your wife and you said that you weren't married yet. After your explanations we sort of understand what you meant, but before everything came back to us our conversations about the two of you would usually include at least a mention of how thick Hermione was with regards to how you felt about her." Harry didn't like where this was going. Richard was bringing up all sorts of topics that Harry would rather avoid like the plague for fear of giving himself away.

"I understand that you two are apparently married, that you can't change that and that you didn't mean for it to happen. The father in me though, however absent he may have been for all of that occurring, can't help but wonder: what are you hoping will become of this situation? Are you planning on keeping this marriage platonic? Will you try for something closer to what is generally thought of when someone mentions marriage?"

"When we realised what had happened to us, I promised Hermione that we wouldn't be trying to force ourselves into anything. As far as we're concerned she's still Hermione Granger and it'll stay that way unless she wants to change it."

"Unless _she_ wants to change it?" Richard asked with a slightly smug tilt to his lips. "That's giving the game away a bit, wouldn't you agree."

"It doesn't change the situation we're in." Harry muttered while cursing himself for that slip of the tongue.

"On the contrary; this changes things quite a bit. When did you first realise that you wanted this marriage to my daughter to be real?" Harry considered lying his way out of this for a moment. That moment passed quickly enough when he remembered that there was a reason that he was rarely able to get anything past his best friend. He somehow didn't think that her father would be any easier to fool.

"When I managed my breakthrough." Harry admitted lowly. "It was as if I had gotten a fresh perspective on what she means to me."

"And you decided not to tell her this?"

"I kind of feel like Hermione already knows. She's pretty perceptive."

"And if she doesn't know?"

"In the case of that very small possibility I'd still wait to find a better time to tell her. Trying to restore your memories put a lot of stress on her."

"That sounds like an excuse to me. What's the real reason you won't tell her?"

"That is the real reason."

"Bullshit. You're just making excuses because you're too scared to take a risk."

"DO YOU THINK THAT THIS SITUATION IS THAT EASY?!" Harry exploded. "Do you think that this is like any other relationship where we can date to see if we're compatible?! That we can decide that this isn't for us if we screw something up?! Anything and everything we bring up is stuck between the two of us! Stuck because we didn't know what we were doing and didn't have time to find out while trying to save the sodding world with a plan that amounted to nothing more than string, Sellotape and luck! Stuck because neither of us knew enough about magic to see this coming! Stuck because we gave a good goddamn about the one person that hadn't abandoned us; that was stuck in that whole fucking mess with the other! And you want me to throw my feelings into that mess?! To make it even more tangled and complicated?!" Harry's chest was heaving with the exertion of screaming at a man who was technically his father in law. Richard seemed perfectly content to listen, not showing a single sign that he wanted to interrupt.

"While neither of us exactly chose to be married to the other, it's worse for Hermione. She'd already chosen to marry someone else; I hadn't. This came out at Hermione's _wedding_ to our best friend. She; didn't; choose; _me_. And you think I'll be callous enough to walk up to her and tell her that I'm _happy_ that it happened? That ruining her life may just have saved mine? Like hell, Richard. Like hell." Harry flung himself back into the chair that he couldn't remember leaping out of and gripped the armrests as he tried to wrestle his emotions back into some semblance of order.

"Here. I think you've been carrying all that around with you for a while now." Harry looked up from his brooding at the voice and found Richard holding out a swing top bottle. Harry hesitated for a moment before accepting the peace-offering and pushing it open with a satisfying pop. "Honestly, Helen and I have been trying to get you to talk about this for a while now. It was just so obvious to us that it was eating you up from the inside."

"So you decided to have a go at me?" Harry asked incredulously.

"As you rather accurately pointed out: you and our daughter are stuck together. If you had exploded at her the way you just did, we expected that it would generate ill feeling that would be particularly hard to get rid of. Since you seemed rather unwilling to just talk about this I figured I'd push your feelings out into the open myself."

"So you agree that I shouldn't tell Hermione about this?" Harry couldn't quite hide the relief in his tone at figuring out what Richard had been up to.

"Actually, I don't. It seems to me that by keeping it all secret from her you're creating a situation that could go wrong very quickly. Getting these matters out into the open denies them a chance to fester."

"But-"

"But you're worried that this will blow up in your face in some nebulous way, yes?" Richard asked. Harry just nodded in response. "Well then, do you think that Hermione's reaction would be more positive if she finds out later?"

"Not really?"

"I don't think so either. All your waiting is accomplishing is keeping this unspoken thing between you. When you do finally tell her you'll also have to explain why you waited so long." Harry's mind shuddered back from all the ways he could imagine that going wrong. Richard let him be for a few moments before speaking up again. "I think that you've forgotten one thing about this marriage of yours. If the two of you are stuck together no matter what, then that means that a bit of uncomfortable news won't change that in the long run either. I don't think that this situation is so different from regular dating as you're trying to make it out to be; at least not regular dating if both parties are willing to be reasonable and discuss their differences."

 _Is he right? Is it even possible that I won't ruin our lives if I bring this out into the open?_ Harry sunk down into his whirling thoughts as he wrestled with a clash of two basic instincts. The need to protect the relationship he had with Hermione and the faith that Hermione would have analysed their situation to the last detail. If his best friend had spent as much time and effort thinking through their plight as he was sure she had then Harry was sure that following her lead on this was the best way to go. On the other hand, Richard was right and keeping things from her was going to slowly break their relationship from the inside out. Life was hard enough as it was now; Harry didn't want to even consider what it would be like if Hermione decided that staying around him was too awkward to bear.

As his thoughts chase each other through his mind Harry never noticed that Richard just sat there next to him. The elder Granger was simply sipping his beer and waiting, content to let Harry figure things out in his own time or be there if needed. The sun sank calmly towards the horizon, the balmy December afternoon in no hurry to end. When Harry finally looked up, he found Richard there, still waiting calmly.

"I-... I just can't seem to get it straight in my head, Richard." he admitted, voice slightly hoarse from sitting in silence for so long. "Every time I think I'm about to agree with you the thought pops up that everything you said only works if both Hermione and I are interested." Richard was silent for a moment and, by the look of his face, was organising his thoughts.

"Perhaps Hermione wasn't the only one being thick." the dentist muttered. He carried on before Harry could respond. "While I would agree that her feelings probably don't match yours entirely, I also can't think of a single relationship where that statement would be true all of the time. On the other hand: I see my daughter relying on you to the exclusion of everyone else. I see her turn to you when things get difficult, when she's reminded of the guilt she feels... you're even the first one she talks to about a new book she's read."

The wistful tone of the last sentence caught Harry slightly off guard and he looked over at his host. Richard was staring at some spot far on the horizon that Harry couldn't see.

"She used to come to me to tell me about the latest book you know?" Harry didn't really think that he was supposed to answer that and couldn't really come up with an appropriate response anyway. Richard shook his head and his focus seemed to return to the here and now. "I can't tell you what to do, Harry. I can only tell you what I see and what I see is you and my daughter denying yourselves a happiness you both want." Having said his piece, he stood up and made his way back to the house. "There's a world of difference between acceptance and happiness. Once you've seen the other side of that you'll understand." Harry could only watch the man walk into his home before turning back to the horizon, confusing new thoughts churning through his mind like a plough through loam.

:-:-:-:-:

Over the next few weeks the Grangers began gearing up for Christmas. Hermione couldn't help but consider how much of a turning point the holiday had become in her life over the last few years. Her mind drifted back to Godric's Hollow and she wondered if the vicar was still there, conducting marriage ceremonies for those less fortunate. _We never went back to repay the fifty pounds we scammed them out of_ Hermione realised with a guilty start.

She considered finding Harry to talk to him about it, but discovered that she was reluctant to bring the topic up with him; with anyone at all, if she was honest with herself. _That's what's let this drag on in the first place_ Hermione reprimanded herself. Steeling herself she went to look for Harry.

Hermione was more than a little aware that she was about to walk headfirst into an awkward situation. By mutual unspoken consent Harry and she didn't bring the matter of their accidental marriage up. She _knew_ that a conversation centred on the actual event would not fail to be excruciating, but it was time and past that they made amends for what they had actually done wrong on that day.

She found Harry exactly where she expected him to be: sitting in the living room, staring into the fire and occasionally looking around at the Christmas decorations her parents had put up. He obviously heard her enter as he turned to face her with a happy smile on his face. It only took seconds for that smile to slip off of his face.

"I'm not going to like this, am I?" he asked in a tone that made answering superfluous.

"It's something we need to talk about, Harry." Hermione answered as she lowered herself down next to him.

"Alright. Hit me with whatever it is." Harry mimed bracing himself on the armrests of the couch. Hermione couldn't stop the faint smile she always felt dancing on her lips whenever she got to see this happy, almost childlike side of her friend. It didn't come out nearly as often as she'd like.

"It's about the vicar who married us in Godric's Hollow." Hermione told him, trying to make her tone sympathetic in an attempt to soften the blow. Harry's answering wince unfortunately didn't look acted.

"He came to mind because it's coming up on Christmas, huh?"

Hermione just nodded ruefully. "We never did go back and give him the fifty pounds for the rings, did we?"

"Ah... well..." Harry prevaricated awkwardly. "You can't deny that we've had quite a lot on our plates since then." There was something strange about the way he said that sentence.

"Harry." Hermione reprimanded lightly, "We can't just ignore what's right because it's going to be massively uncomfortable."

"I suppose you're right." Harry admitted awkwardly, as he got up. Hermione could see that he was now physically trying to escape this conversation. She got up after him and caught his hand. She didn't want him to spend the rest of the day in a funk. It was supposed to be a merry season after all. _Damn and blast his tendency to shoulder the blame for everything. It's not his fault that we can't talk about that day normally; I'm just as awkward about it._ Harry looked back at her with an expression that just about begged her to drop this.

"I'm sorry that we're married." Hermione sighed with a sad smile, trying to convey that she didn't blame Harry for that fact. She found herself feeling like she had missed a step when she discovered that she had half been expecting Harry to respond in kind. Looking him over though she could see that he had gone slightly paler than usual. Hermione watched as her friend seemed to be wrestling with something she couldn't see. His Adam's apple bobbed as he tried to swallow. When he finally lifted his head, Hermione found herself trapped by a blazing look.

"I'm not." Harry's voice was a bit rougher than usual, but his eyes didn't waver.

"What?"

"When it first happened, I hated it, hated what it had done to our lives. I can't any more. These past few years have been... difficult. In fact, they were so difficult that I don't think I could have faced them without you by my side. And that makes me happy; that you were there I mean." Hermione could only gawk as her friend rambled, a hint of discomfort visible on his cheeks. "So I'm not sorry that we're married; not anymore."

 _'And nothing in that jumps out at you as possibly being a good thing? Has it really been nothing but trials?'_ Hermione heard her mother's words once again, reverberating through her mind. She could not remember them without remembering the rest of that horrendously awkward conversation. Faced with incontrovertible evidence that Harry apparently really did feel the way her mother had claimed he would... it was overwhelming to say the least.

 _'I for one am anything but opposed to having your Harry as a son-in-law. I don't think that you father would mind either.'_

Hermione also couldn't forget the parting comment that hadn't left her alone in the weeks since she had heard it spoken out loud. Weeks that had been filled with hypotheticals that she had been afraid to even entertain even as she ran through them again and again and again; except that this was no longer a hypothetical.

For a long moment Hermione balanced on a knife's edge, unsure of which way she was going to fall.

 _He took a chance. He knows we'll never be able to completely separate our lives again and he took a chance. Harry of all people took a chance on a social situation._ For some reason that last caused Hermione's chest to thrum like a plucked snare. She had told her mother that there were aspects of Harry, and especially how he acted socially, that the elder Granger was simply unaware of. In fact, Hermione absolutely sure that there was no other person in the world who knew Harry well enough to _know_ what his nervous declaration must have cost him.

She fell off of the knife's edge.

It was intoxicating. Her breath was robbed from her body and for once Hermione's mind couldn't keep up with what was happening to her. She felt small and insignificant in the face of it all. She felt a strength surging through her that could have lifted Ayer's Rock.

With a gasp she lurched forward and threw her arms around the only source of stability that could keep her grounded through the torrent of emotions that was buffeting her from every side; the one anchor that she could count on since it was caught up in this madness with her. To feel him clutch her to him caused her cheeks to split into a painfully wide smile that was hidden in Harry's shoulder.

Slowly the turbulence in Hermione's chest began to settle and one emotion rose above the others like a sun-warmed rock in the raging river: joy. Hermione was quite sure that she had ever felt so ebullient, so exhilarated, so-... so completely and utterly happy with where her life had carried her.

Hearing Harry's worried voice asking her if she was alright, if she could forgive him for unloading on her like he had and promising that he would do whatever he could to make sure she had the space she needed to come to terms with what he had dropped in her lap, made Hermione realise that she hadn't actually responded to her best friend, her _husband_ , in any way that would have made sense to him yet.

She still couldn't have wiped her grin off her face with a Vanishing Charm even as she drew back from the best friend she had unwittingly married. She finally allowed herself to name the light she had seen in his eyes for nearly a year now: love. Harry Potter loved her. It gave Hermione a giddy feeling unlike any she had ever had to admit that to herself. Once again, she had trouble comparing it to any kind of experience she had ever had before.

"Harry... will you say my name?" The question bubbled out of Hermione carrying her joy with it.

"Hermione?" Harry offered uncertainly. Hermione shook her head with her grin still firmly in place.

"My full name."

"Hermione Jane Granger." Hermione's smile actually grew a little wider as she shook her head again. She leant a little closer to Harry so that their noses were almost touching and her vision was filled with those green eyes.

"Harry James Potter, will you say my full, _official_ name?" she whispered. Understanding finally gleamed in Harry's eyes and lips melted into an almost disbelieving, answering grin.

"Hermione Jane Potter." he whispered in return. A warmth spread through Hermione's body at that simple pronunciation of a name she had so long denied herself. She couldn't resist pressing her lips to Harry's again. The two of them began to lose themselves to the kiss as the tension of the past year and a half sloughed off them like a springtime melt. Hermione's hands roved across Harry's back, up his neck and into his hair as his strong arms pulled her closer.

"I thought the tradition was to share a kiss if you stood under the mistletoe. Is there a whole bush of the stuff up there or something?" Hermione jerked back and squeaked in embarrassment at the sound of her mother's amused voice.

"I realise that the two of you are adults, but do you think you could at least refrain from conceiving our grandchildren in the living room?" Her father sounded every bit as amused as her mother had. Out of the corner of her eye Hermione could see that Harry had gone white as a sheet and he looked ready to bolt. Unwilling to face her parents alone she grabbed her husband's hand.

"Mum, Dad, I thought the two of you would still be out shopping."

"Clearly." Helen drawled. "So, what's changed from 'being accidentally married' to 'busy doing something that couldn't be an accident if it tried'?"

"Harry and I have come to a decision... sort of." Hermione admitted. In fact, they had only really admitted that they really did have romantic feelings for each other. Calling that a decision stretched the definition of the word to its breaking point.

"Actually, I think the decision is still to come." Harry interjected, sounding like he had regained himself. "Before you walked in we were working up to something."

"We could see that." Richard agreed smugly.

"Not that. Hermione and I were discussing something rather important and I would like for you to witness the result of that discussion." Harry retorted with what Hermione considered admirable dignity in the face of her parents' relentless teasing. She did wonder what he was talking about as he turned to face her. "Hermione, I-... when we started our conversation I didn't really think that it would turn out anywhere near as well as it did. I did think that there was a certain... preparation that I needed to make in case you could ever come to see me as more than just your friend." Hermione couldn't contain a gasp as Harry pulled a simple silver coloured ring with an elegant diamond set into it out of his pocket.

"Harry?" she asked tremulously, scared that she was jumping to conclusions. Harry's eyes never left hers as he lowered himself to one knee.

"Hermione Jane Granger, will you marry me?"

"We're already married..." Hermione could have taken out her wand and cursed herself the moment the words left her lips. Harry just quirked a smile at her.

"Alright, will you make the conscious decision that you want us to be married?" he asked with a tinge of humour to his voice.

"Y-Yes!" Hermione exclaimed flinging her arms around her husband and kissing him soundly on the lips. She and Harry were knocked to the ground by the force of her exuberance. When they came up for air, Harry slipped the ring onto Hermione's right hand and kissed her again. It took Richard clearing his throat before they remembered that they had an audience.

"Congratulations are in order, I suppose?" he asked with a mischievous smile on his face. "Will you be having another wedding, or will you simply start publicly acknowledging the one you had years ago?" Hermione shared a look with Harry and knew without a doubt that they both felt the same about this.

"We'll be renewing our vows a year from now in the church in Godric's Hollow." she told her father feeling like a warm balloon was slowly being inflated inside her chest. The mood was almost ruined by Helen grabbing her daughter in a hug with tears in her eyes.

"I can't wait." she sniffed out. Hermione giggled at that. "A Christmas wedding, is it? Flowers might be a little difficult to come by around that time of year. Oh, we'll have to account for how drafty the church will be too when getting you your dress."

"Don't worry so much, Mum. It'll be perfect as long as you are there to see Harry and I get married." Hermione smiled. A moment later her father claimed that it was his turn to hug his daughter and Helen stepped over to grab Harry in a tight hug as well.

"We already welcomed you to the family, but I can't tell you how happy I am that the two of you finally realised the implications of what everyone has apparently been trying to tell you for years now." Hermione heard her mother tell Harry.

"It was nerve-wracking enough as it was." Harry admitted ruefully. "I was terrified that I was going to scare Hermione off."

"Like there was any chance that was going to happen." Helen snorted. "Now that I have my memories back I know that just about every conversation I've had about the magical world after the one where we were told that it actually existed has prominently featured Harry Potter."

"Actually, Harry wasn't the only one who was scared, Mum." Hermione interrupted her mother's rather smug explanation. "The days after we first learnt we were married were anything but a honeymoon. I won't say it was as stressful as the war, but it's definitely next on the list of trying times. We told you all about that when we got here."

"And yet, somehow, the two of you managed to miss that being able to go through both that war and the trying times afterwards together might mean something." her mother retorted.

"Oh hush, Helen." Hermione's father scolded. "Let's just be happy that it took them so long to realise it. We might have missed our daughter's wedding otherwise."

"That has to be the most backhanded support you've ever given me, Dad." Hermione remarked drily.

"Doesn't make it any less true." he grinned at her before pulling her in for another hug. "You sure are letting your husband get of easily though, only having to remember Christmas. Your mum gets after me almost every year for forgetting our anniversary."

"Well, maybe not quite Christmas day." Harry allowed, trying to help Hermione out of a perceived pinch. "I doubt we'd be able to get a Christian church on Christmas Day anyway."

"When did you have in mind then?" Helen wanted to know.

"How about the Winter Solstice?" Harry suggested. "I know it's supposed to be a magically powerful night and it used to be a celebration of the darkness receding and light coming into people's lives. It would feel... appropriate, I suppose." Harry looked incredibly awkward as three surprised expressions turned to gawk at him. "Or we could do another day?" Hermione wriggled herself loose from her father and stepped over to Harry, kissing him happily and shoving down the worst of the giddiness she felt at being able to just do that.

"The Winter Solstice would be perfect, Harry." she breathed, smiling at the relief she could see in his eyes. "I was just taken aback that you remembered anything from History of Magic."

"Well, you used to spend quite a lot of time talking about the solstices and equinoxes and how they affected the rituals you were learning about in Arithmancy." Harry defended himself. Hermione's smile grew a little more and she couldn't resist kissing him again. Only Harry would have bothered to remember something she had said in one of her academic rambles. Even her parents didn't pay that much attention to them.

"I got very lucky the day we accidentally got married." She murmured against the lips of her husband and fiancé.

"I'll say." Helen muttered just loud enough to get heard and pull Hermione out of Harry's eyes with a blush.

 **AN: Wow, been a while hasn't it? I'm sure that to most of my readers it feels like it was a very long year, but honestly? I'm still wondering where 2018 went. Between working 50-hour weeks at my new job, moving twice (one of which is the house I've recently bought) and just generally being stuck reacting more than planning the year raced past.**

 **With everything that was going on I was unfortunately forced to abandon some of my hobbies which I am slowly returning to, Fanfiction absolutely being one of those.**

 **I want to thank all the people who sent personal messages asking how I was. I was touched to know that you guys cared about that. Hopefully I can get back to updating/publishing more regularly now that life is starting to settle down a bit.**

 **As for the usual bits:**

 **A skip is the general term for what Americans will more commonly refer to as a "Dumpster"; Dumpster is a common brand of skip.**

 **Concerning the "every Brit worth their tea" comment: it, like the Doulton Lounge (which actually exists and is actually a part of the Village Belle Hotel and which I have not actually visited), is a reference to Royal Doulton china which is famous for being decorated primarily in pink and blue. Bets on whether Trelawney also favours this brand for her class are currently not being taken.**

 **The Chapel Street Precinct is a particularly famous shopping area in Melbourne.**

 **Since one chapter would have been a bit cheap after so much time away I've also posted the next one. Enjoy the finale!**

 **Thank you for reading (and for being extremely patient).**

 **LeQuin**


	4. Chapter 4

Harry and the Grangers took their time making their plans for a return to Britain. That is to say: the Grangers planned, and Harry occasionally added a thought. The near military attitude that the family took to the trip made Harry all the more aware of where Hermione had learnt it all. The timing was set up so that their visit would culminate in the wedding with the Grangers and the Potters leaving England's shores immediately after.

The Grangers would be returning to Australia for the time being. Neither family had come to a definite decision yet about whether they would be making a permanent return to England. They _had_ decided that the Grangers would let their friends and family know that they had been kept under the auspices of the Protected Persons Service for the past several years. Both dentists felt that this would cover most of the gaps in their abrupt absence from so many lives. It would also allow them to claim that something was 'classified' if questions wandered to close to the magical world. After all the criminal they had been hidden from _did_ still have followers at large and precautions must be taken.

Harry and Hermione would be departing on their honeymoon. The organisation for that trip was reluctantly released into Harry's hands under Richard's supervision and only after a pair of snickering parents had managed to convince Hermione that taking on too much at once would turn what was supposed to be an enjoyable day into a chore.

Given how little Harry was really given to do in the run up to the return to their homeland he was given time to think and time to plan. There were a few things that he wanted to make sure fell into place for the wedding. Things he knew Hermione would want but might overlook in the sheer press of what she seemed to want to organise. So, Harry plotted and worked out exactly what he was going to do at the first opportunity granted to him.

Eventually the Grangers and the Potters ended up flying back to Britain on a muggle airline, much the way Harry and Hermione had arrived on Australia's shores. They arrived a few days after Harry's twenty-fourth birthday. Harry had questioned if they really needed to be in England that far in advance and had been informed in no uncertain terms that it was in fact very necessary. Apparently, there were many appointments that needed to be made between the date of the wedding and the date of their arrival.

At hearing that barrage of reasons why they had to be in England, even if he wasn't exactly convinced, Harry decided that he'd just leave well enough alone. All this harried preparing seemed to be as much a part of Hermione's dream wedding as any of the rest of it.

:-:-:-:-:

The flight back to England had ended up causing Hermione no small amount of embarrassment that she was _not_ going to be explaining in public. The flight attendants had turned out to be the same crew from the flight that had taken them to Australia two years earlier; and they had remembered her.

When Hermione had quietly admitted that the woman Harry was happily talking to was her mother the flight attendants'' eyes had gone wide. The service from then on had been impeccable once again, peppered with comments about how lucky she was that only confused Harry and her parents.

None of this stopped her from falling asleep on Harry's chest on purpose this time.

Back in England the family moved into Grimmauld Place which had been immaculately kept up by Kreacher. The wizened old elf had immediately insisted that he would do the catering for his Master and Mistress's wedding. Hermione had surprised herself by not raising even a token objection. It was abundantly clear that this task would make Kreacher ecstatically happy and she couldn't deny him that. The little voice in her head that murmured that having the reception taken care of like this would save a lot of effort was a little harder to justify.

There really was still enough organising to go around and Hermione and her mother waded into it eagerly. By contrast Harry and her father were content to let them get on with it, far less concerned with the minutiae of the whole thing. Hermione found herself simultaneously wishing that Harry would participate and knowing that this reluctance to work on the visual aspect of their wedding was an extension of a trait that she loved about him. Harry would never claim the limelight if he could help it, not even on his own wedding day.

For some things she had simply resorted to begging, cajoling and bribing him into participating. Visiting the church to make their reservations for example. Harry had been reluctant to go with her and had even offered that he would go alone. He hadn't relented on that point until he saw that it was hurting Hermione to think that he wouldn't want her there with him. Even so, he still insisted that it would then only be the two of them, solidifying Hermione's suspicions that something was amiss here.

In the end she agreed, reasoning to herself that she could always take her parents along for a visit later. Having reached this compromise with her fiancé she wanted to ring ahead only to be stopped by Harry.

"The church is open on Saturdays for anyone who feels a need to stop by and talk with the vicar. We can go then." he told her. Hermione hadn't realised that Harry knew the church's schedule like that. A part of her still wanted to get on the phone, convinced that it was only polite. A far stronger part was drawn into the mystery of it all. Damned if it didn't feel like she was back in school, following a messy-haired boy off the beaten path simply to find out where it might lead.

For the rest of the week after their discussion Harry avoided any and all mention of Godric's Hollow and its church which meant that on Saturday morning Hermione's curiosity had reached boiling point. She convinced her parents to just stay home that day, something her father was quite pleased with and which had led to her mother demanding promises of a long chat after they returned once Hermione had explained her reasons for the request.

The couple apparated up to Godric's Hollow where Hermione let Harry lead them to the church, so she could keep an eye on his reactions. Just outside of the gate to the church grounds Harry stopped.

"Are you alright?" Hermione asked, wondering whether she was about to learn what her fiancé was hiding from her or whether he was just stalling for time.

"Yeah... this is just going to be... awkward." The answer was less illuminating than Hermione had hoped for, but at least it gave her somewhere to start digging.

"Because of what we did to the vicar during the war?"

"... sort of." Hermione's next question stalled on her lips as Harry's shoulders squared and he opened the gate. Before he stepped through it his hand found Hermione's and gave it a squeeze. Deciding that getting into the church would be the fastest way to resolve her curiosity with Harry in this kind of mood Hermione gently pulled him through the gate and towards the open door of the church.

Inside they found a quiet atmosphere. The pews were currently empty and even the vicar was nowhere to be seen. Memories of the last time she had been here filled Hermione's mind. _To think that we'll be repeating that seven years later; and on purpose this time._ Hermione made her way up to the altar, dropping Harry's hand as he hung back. A part of her mind couldn't help but wander towards the future, trying to imagine what it would be like to walk this same path on her wedding day.

A creak of aging hinges drew her attention towards a spot just to the right of the altar. A small door opened and out came a man Hermione easily recognised as the vicar who had married her polyjuiced form to Harry's. Hermione couldn't keep herself from freezing up guiltily as she remembered how she had taken advantage of this man's kindness. A light breath of relief escaped her as his eyes roved over her without any particular reaction only to draw back in tensely when his eyes lit up with recognition for the only other person in the nave.

"Mr. Potter!" _What?! How does he know Harry? And by his real name no less._

"Please, Father Gerald, you know you can call me Harry."

"Some respect is certainly in order after all you've done, young man." the clergyman disagreed happily. "What can I do for you today? If you're here to check up on us I can happily assure you that your last donation is far from spent?"

"Donation?" Hermione asked, her ever-present need to know overpowering her nervousness.

"Certainly, miss. Why Mr. Potter has donated generously to this church every year for the past six. Even if he had only come in that first time I would still remember him for the joy he has brought to so many!"

"Harry?" Hermione turned to find her fiancé looking incredibly sheepish. _How on Earth did I forget that there's nothing Harry finds more awkward than accepting praise?_ The vicar spoke up when it became clear that Harry wasn't particularly eager to.

"Mr. Potter has given thousands of pounds to the church, specifying that it should be used for the benefit of couples who wish to get married, but are unable to pay for the necessary accoutrements." Father Gerald told Hermione, eagerly giving Harry the praise he would never take. Hermione knew at once that Harry had been fulfilling the promise that they had made as they left this church on a winter's night when they hadn't known if they would see another Christmas. She walked over to him and slipped her arms around his neck.

"You never cease to amaze me, Harry Potter." she murmured before pressing a soft kiss to his lips. As she drew back she blushed slightly, remembering where she was and how most men of the cloth would react to a display of public affection. When she looked at Father Gerald though, he seemed even happier than he had when he had first recognised Harry.

"Um, Father Gerald? I'd like you to meet Hermione Granger, my fiancée." Harry murmured abashedly.

"It does an old man's heart good to know that you have finally found that blessing you have given to so many others, my son." the vicar responded with a slight bow of his head.

"We were hoping that we could hold the wedding here and that you'd be able to marry us." Hermione asked tentatively.

"Nothing would give me greater pleasure than to see the two of you before my altar. Just let me know when the joyous day is to be." the vicar beamed. Hermione could see that he really did mean what he said. _I wonder if he would still be so happy if he knew what we'd done?_ Something in Hermione whispered that this man just might be able to smile at even someone who had stolen his very memories.

"We would like to get married on the 21st of December." Harry offered. The vicar did some quick maths in his head and nodded.

"A Tuesday. I will write it into the church's agenda. Did you have any particular wishes? Anything at all?"

"Hermione and her mother have been tackling the more practical aspects of this whole thing." Harry admitted with a small smile.

"You've helped." Hermione reminded him.

"A facilitator as you've ever been when it comes to weddings, I see." the vicar chortled. Hermione smiled as she realised that the man felt comfortable enough to risk teasing her friend. That Harry also managed a rueful smile told her more about how Harry felt about this church in the town of his birth. "Is there urgent wedding business to pull you away from here or can you perhaps spare a moment for a cup of tea with an old man?"

"That seems like excellent and important part of our preparations." Hermione agreed, eager to keep seeing Harry smiling and eager to know more about what he had done in reparation for their first visit to this place. The vicar briefly excused himself, inviting them to inspect the church at their leisure while made them all a pot of tea.

The conversation when Father Gerald returned focused almost exclusively on the wedding. When he asked the couple if there was a particular verse or sermon they were interested in hearing, Hermione was struck by a memory of the last ceremony she had attended here. She saw that same memory reflected in Harry's eyes and, with his blessing, conveyed their decision to the man who would preside over their ceremony.

:-:-:-:-:

Harry swallowed nervously as he made his way through the familiar warren of offices in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. He didn't know what to think of the fact that Ron had apparently been moved to his old office, but it made him easy to find at least. Harry knocked on the office door, feeling more nervous than he ever had before speaking to his best mate.

"Come in." came Ron's slightly muffled voice from the other side of the door. Harry took his chance and stepped inside before his nerves had a chance to waver. He closed the door behind him and subtly cast Silencing and Repelling Charms on it so that they wouldn't be interrupted before he could say his piece to Ron. The redhead looked up from his paperwork and Harry saw Ron's face morph into a scowl. "Oh. It's you."

"How've you been, Ron?" Harry asked as he sat down across from the man he had once been closer to than any other.

"Nobody's run off and married my fiancé behind my back recently, so I suppose not so bad." Ron snipped.

"Good to hear." Harry said with a roll of his eyes. "Are you going bang that drum the whole time or are you willing to listen?" Ron was quiet for a while and Harry wasn't sure what the redhead might decide on.

"Fine. What is it you want?"

"I want us to work through this thing between us." Harry replied steadily.

"Yeah?" Ron's tone of voice was anything but encouraging.

"Yeah. You know that we didn't do it on purpose."

"I know" Ron grunted. "I still don't get how Hermione could have missed something like that when she usually knows everything about anything, but I know that this was an accident." Harry felt slightly wrong-footed by that statement.

"If you know all that then why are you still acting like we just got the Cannons banned from the league?" he asked in confusion.

"Because it still hurts, damn it! Whether you meant to or not, you took the woman I loved from me. That you weren't even trying only makes it worse." Ron's sentiment left Harry a little unsure of where to go from here. He had been expecting his best mate to either still be harbouring a grudge or to have calmed down. This mess of feelings that were apparently still swirling around Ron's head just confused Harry to no end.

"Look, I get that you were hurt that day, but so was Hermione. Her wedding was ruined just as much as yours was. Worse than that, her choice of who she would married was permanently taken away. You still have options at least."

"You two finally admitting that you're married then?" Ron asked rather than deal with the points Harry had raised. Harry decided that if Ron was going to react like this to everything he said anyway that a little bluntness might be in order.

"Sort of... that's kind of what led to me being here today. Hermione and I want to get married; while we actually know what's going on and it's our choice I mean. You've been our best friend for years and as far as I'm concerned you still are. It wouldn't feel right if you weren't there." Ron's scowl deepened as Harry spoke and he opened his mouth to say something, but Harry just barrelled on. He didn't want to give Ron a chance to blow up until after everything that needed to be said had been. "I get that it might be uncomfortable for you and your family, but I at least wanted you to find out from me before you heard whatever rumour this will eventually get turned into. I'm also willing to do whatever it takes to get you to come to the wedding."

"You think there's something you can do?" Ron snarled out.

"More like hoping. I was thinking that if we can somehow reconcile that it would be a nice wedding gift for Hermione." Ron blinked at that for a moment.

"She has no idea that you're here, does she?"

"No. She's out looking for a dress with Helen."

"Helen?" Ron's bitterness melted of his face for a moment as confusion took its place.

"Her mum, Ron."

"Wasn't she stuck in Australia without her memories?"

"We found a way to restore her memories." Harry explained. "She and Richard will be at the wedding too. They're not sure about moving back to Britain yet though."

"Richard's the dad?" Ron asked as if he was just making sure. Harry nodded. "Merlin, the two of you just can't stop doing the impossible, huh?"

"I'm actually happy that this one turned out as well as it did." Harry admitted. "Usually when we do the impossible it blows up in our face somehow." Ron let out an actual snort of amusement. "So, will you consider coming?"

"I-... I don't think so." Ron sounded a little uncomfortable. Harry felt the disappointment of that answer hit him pretty hard.

"And there's nothing I can do?"

"Is there any way you can make my best mate marrying my fiancé not awkward?" Harry opened his mouth, intending to respond, only to realise that he had no idea what he could say.

"I don't know." he reluctantly admitted.

"Yeah, didn't think so." Ron sighed. "Look, maybe we can put this to rest with some more time, but I don't think I'm ready to be all chummy with the two of you again; especially not at your wedding."

"That's better than you still being in a blind rage at us." Harry sighed. Progress might have been made here today, but it wasn't as much as he had hoped. He got up from Ron's desk and made his way over to the door. "If you change your mind: the wedding'll be on the winter solstice at the church in Godric's Hollow." Ron just grunted in response. "Well, whatever you decide, I hope we'll see you sometime soon. Maybe write us an owl or something. We can grab a beer." Another grunt. With another sigh, Harry pulled the door open and stepped out of the office. As it shut behind him he removed the spells he had applied upon entering and made his way back out of the Ministry. Popping into Grimmauld Place he flopped down on the couch. _At least I won't have to feel guilty if I send the Weasleys invitations now. There's no way they won't know about the wedding by tonight._

:-:-:-:-:

Several months filled with the small and large headaches that were part and parcel of planning a wedding Harry stood in front of an altar and stared out over the gathered crowd. It was a considerable deal smaller than it had been for Hermione's last wedding. Neither of them had felt like inviting half the wizarding world, especially after how the majority had reacted to the news of their accidental marriage. The only ones present could be considered friends and family. As far as Harry was concerned Shack and Minerva couldn't help being Minister for Magic and Headmistress of Hogwarts and those titles had nothing to do with their invitations.

"Nervous?" Neville asked in a low voice. Harry shook his head absently.

"Not really." he admitted. "This feels... I don't know, right somehow."

"Which is pretty much what everyone's been telling the two of you for twelve years or more now." Neville chortled in response.

"Oh, get stuffed." Harry muttered without heat. He had lost track of how often someone had said something like that to him over the past year. He couldn't really claim that these people didn't have a point though. He and Hermione really had spent far too long denying what they meant to each other. As Harry's eyes roved over the assembled guests he noticed a large group coming in through the church's main doors. Most of the group had instantly recognisable red hair. Harry felt his breath catch as he realised that the Weasley clan really had shown up for his wedding. Without spending a lot of time thinking it over he made his way over to the newly arrived guests.

"You came." he breathed as he came close enough. The expressions on a few of the faces he saw were still a bit frosty, but at least most of them looked honestly happy.

"We couldn't bloody well stay away when our little brother is getting married to the woman he already married." George grinned.

"Language, George." Mrs. Weasley said stiffly. While she wasn't exhibiting any of the warmth Harry had seen from her up until Ron's failed wedding, she didn't correct George way of addressing him. At this point Harry was willing to take what he could.

"Sorry, Mum." George said, sounding anything but. "So, Harry, what made you finally come around? Another accident perhaps?" Bill swatted his brother upside the head.

"Ignore him, Harry." the eldest Weasley brother remarked easily. "I think he's trying to find a way to accidentally marry Angelina."

"If he is you just gave the game away." the former chaser said as she shook her head.

"It's just an extra challenge." George decided dismissively.

"That's enough, you lot." Mr. Weasley interrupted the comedy act before it could get too far out of hand. "We can talk to Harry after the ceremony. We should get to our seats, so we don't keep everybody waiting." The Weasleys and their various partners waved to Harry as they made their way towards some pews that were about halfway up the church. Mrs. Weasley and Ginny very carefully didn't look at him and Harry repressed a sigh at the thought that they still weren't ready to go back to the way things had been. He was surprised when Ron didn't immediately follow the rest of the family.

"This doesn't mean that everything's okay between us." the redhead said stubbornly as he looked at Harry. Harry just nodded carefully in response. He didn't want to cause a scene at his own wedding day after all.

"I'm just glad you came." he told his best mate.

"Yeah, well, I figured there wouldn't be a third time." Ron shrugged. There was a moment of awkward silence between the two men before Ron simply moved past Harry to join the rest of the family. It was far from a complete reconciliation, but if Ron was at least thinking that he'd regret not having been at their wedding then Harry didn't think that the day when the youngest Weasley son finally came to terms with everything that had happened was too far off; even if Ron wasn't willing to admit to it yet. Harry couldn't help but smile as he made his way back over to the altar.

"Should I be glad that no one got hexed?" Neville asked when Harry once again took up his position."

"I doubt it would have come to that." Harry disagreed. "They might not have been happy with what happened two and a half years ago, but they wouldn't have shown up today just to start a fight."

"I suppose not." Neville allowed. "Looked pretty awkward though."

"Only with a few of them."

"The ones who thought they were going to marry the two of you?"

"And Molly."

"Yeah, I could see that." The two friends fell silent for a moment. The sound of the door to the vestibule opening and shutting drew their attention to the vicar coming to stand at the altar with them.

"Are we all ready to go?" the old man asked with a smile.

"Just waiting on the bride." Harry confirmed. The vicar nodded.

"May I just say before we begin: it is an honour to have such a friend of the church stand here to speak his vows before God; especially one who has given that gift to so many others."

"There's nowhere we'd rather have had the ceremony." Harry assured the man while Neville was shooting him a questioning look. Before the conversation could continue the first strains of music floated through the church and the three men turned to look towards the doors. The first one to come in was a happily beaming Luna in a powder blue dress that made her hair shine like the moon for which she was named. As she took her position across from Harry and Neville the music swelled, and Hermione entered on her father's arm.

When they reached the altar, Richard leaned over and gave his daughter a kiss on the cheek before passing her hand to Harry's with a wink. Harry never noticed him sitting down next to Helen, too caught up in Hermione's eyes and the love he could see there to pay attention to anything else. He barely even remembered to turn to the vicar who was smiling broadly at the pair of them. Clearing his throat, the clergyman began his service.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to witness the joining of Harry James Potter and Hermione Jane Granger in holy matrimony. When I spoke with this couple of remarkable young people in preparation for today I asked them if there was a particular verse that they wished me to read. They humbled this man of God by stating unequivocally that they trusted me to find the words. Over the course of that conversation I became convinced that there is only one passage in the good book that does their love justice and I would read it to you now.

 _If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing._

 _Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres._

 _Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now, we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known._

 _And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love._ "

As the vicar continued to speak Harry reflected that they really had made the right choice in letting him choose what to say. As surely as he had all those years ago during their hunt for the horcruxes the vicar had somehow found words that struck at the heart of who and what they were deeper than he could have possibly known.

Harry felt like the mentions of prophecy applied to him more specifically than most and Hermione's love had certainly been the most important thing in helping him overcome the one that had pitted him against Voldemort.

It would also be true to say that despite everything they had gone through leading up to the war they had still been children in a sense and that they had talked, thought and reasoned as children. In fact, Harry thought that he could make a convincing case for anything before he had finally realised that he loved Hermione as being part of his childhood. Certainly, if he could miss something so obvious then he was not qualified to be an adult yet.

The most poignant part though was how the vicar described love itself. If that was what love was then Harry was unsure how he and Hermione had ever thought their relationships with Ginny and Ron could have been love; especially when he compared them to what he now had with Hermione. Remembering the fights they had had with their partners before finding out that they were technically married, Harry was struck with the notion that those relationships had missed on every other count.

Both Ron and Ginny had always pushed for more in the relationship. Harry was sure that their mother was a major part of that, but the younger Weasleys had gone along with it. Both were kind at heart, but they had certainly boasted about their relationships to their friends and about themselves to their partners. Their pride had been wounded when Harry and Hermione's accidental marriage had come out and both siblings were easily given to fits of jealousy and anger, especially when they felt they were being overshadowed by their partner in some way.

There were also parts that Harry could in no way find himself in. He didn't think that either Weasley had 'dishonoured others'. As far as he was concerned the entire family were among the most honourable people he knew. Ron and Ginny could certainly hold a grudge though and he had sometimes felt that they were somehow keeping score in their relationships in a way that he simply didn't understand. Never in a million years would he say that his friends rejoiced in evil. They had stood against it firmly when the time came.

The last cadence of that summation had simply reminded him that 'always' didn't necessarily apply to his or Hermione's relationships with the Weasleys. He could admit to himself that his perspective might be coloured by the events of the last two or three years, but that didn't change that when he thought about how he and Hermione approached their relationship he felt like they could run down the checklist the vicar had laid out with ease. _While some people might disagree, I'm starting to think that accidentally marrying Hermione may have been the greatest stroke of luck I've ever had._

A squeeze from Hermione's hand warned Harry that they were about to have to recite their vows to each other. As he turned to face his bride, Harry's gaze found hers. The understanding in those eyes was enough to convince him that Hermione had more than a vague idea about the thoughts that had just been running through his head. The idea that she might have been thinking along similar lines left an indelible smile on his face as he once again spoke his wedding vows to Hermione. This time he meant every last word of them and this time he wasn't surprised by the words the vicar used to close out the ceremony.

"I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride." Harry Potter smiled at Hermione Potter and leant forward to press a soft kiss to her lips. It reminded him of the first time they had kissed on that winter night in this church. Once again, he tried to convey that he would be there for her until the end of whatever came next. That 'what would come next' was the rest of their lives together was more than he could ever have hoped for. The sense of elation he felt at knowing that Hermione was his family and _wanted to be_ made him want to check that he wasn't actually floating on air. When they drew back from each other Harry could only see Hermione's beaming face. She darted forward and pressed another kiss to his lips before whispering to him:

"We're supposed to leave the church now, love." Harry blinked, and the sound of thunderous applause came rushing into his awareness. He turned to see all the guests he had forgotten about on their feet, cheering and clapping for the newlyweds. The feeling of Hermione's hand slipping into his pulled him out of his surprise and spread his lips in an irrepressible smile. Out of the corner of his eye he could see that Hermione's matching smile hadn't lessened a bit either. Together they stepped away from the altar and walked down the aisle past their celebrating friends.

Harry couldn't help but notice that even Ron was clapping for them and that his expression wasn't as cold as he had probably planned it to be. _He really is coming around. We'll have to have him over for dinner when we get back from our honeymoon._ The thought gave Harry a thrill of pleasure as he realised that he was thinking in terms of 'us' and 'we'. He finally, officially had a real family to call his own. That it was Hermione was more than he could have ever hoped for or dreamt of when an undersized, wild-haired little boy stepped onto a magical train and met a bossy, bushy-haired little girl.

As they stepped out into the snow Harry and Hermione found a dark green Ministry limousine waiting for them. A wizard standing next to one of the rear doors hurriedly opened it and saluted the Potters. Harry helped Hermione get in first and nodded at their chauffeur before following her in. The couple enjoyed the quiet and being cocooned for the world for a little bit. The drive didn't take long, certainly not as long as it should have to get them from Wales to London. When they pulled up next to number 12 Grimmauld Place Hermione stopped Harry from jumping out of the car before giving their driver a chance to open the door.

"He's probably nervous enough as it is being the driver at the Great Harry Potter's wedding." she told him with mirth dancing in her eyes.

"How do you know he's not freaking out about it being the Great Hermione Potter's wedding?" Harry asked in faux indignation. Hermione responded by dragging him into a heated kiss that they broke away from like nervous teenagers when they heard the door opening. Harry stepped out first, desperately hoping that his face didn't look like he was just coming out of a Hogwarts broom cupboard. He extended a hand to help Hermione out of consideration for the apparent difficulty of moving in a dress. They both gave courteous nods to the deeply bowing driver as they made their way up the steps to the front door of their home.

"Do you suppose that Neville and Luna got everyone portkeyed over here in time? I feel like that car ride was far too quick for them to have gotten everything organised."

"Don't worry so much. You've had all the actual organising done for months." Harry reassured his wife with a smile. "Relax a little, enjoy the day and let the rest of us worry about the rest of it. In fact,..." Without further warning Harry swept Hermione up into his arms.

"Harry! Put me down! What on earth's gotten into you?!" Hermione scolded as she wriggled in his grip.

"Just making sure we don't omit the details. I heard from your father that the groom is supposed to carry the bride over the threshold the first time they enter their house as a married couple." Hermione stopped struggling in response to that explanation to gape at Harry, making him feel like he had somehow won a victory.

"Harry?"

"Yes?"

"Don't you dare put me down." Hermione murmured as she snuggled deeper into his embrace. Harry just smiled down at the woman in his arms.

"I'm never letting you go again." he promised as he stepped past the doorway to the rest of their lives together.

* * *

 **The End**

* * *

 **AN: Well, that's it for this one. I hope you enjoyed it, even with the hiatus.**

 **The Protected Persons Service translates to Witness Protection Program in American.**

 **As always: thank you for reading and I'll see you in the next one,**

 **LeQuin**


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